The House of the Interpreter

by Lisa Kelly

Overview

A Poetry Book Society Summer Recommendation 2023 exploring the hidden language of nature and the power of communication.

Lisa Kelly's second collection, House of the Interpreter, responds to the repression of British Sign Language (BSL) as its occasion and inspiration. Kelly develops the subject through extended sequences which attend to mushrooms and fungi, lifeforms that develop in secret, unnoticed, unappreciated, yet whose existence enriches everyday life. What can such hidden others teach us – if we attune all our senses?

This collection is for poetry readers, those interested in disability studies, linguistics, nature writing, and social justice. House of the Interpreter challenges social and political repression, finding beauty and meaning in the everyday. Experience empathy, intrigue, and wonder as you explore the power of language, identity, and nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800173125
Publisher:	Carcanet Press, Limited
Publication date:	06/29/2023
Pages:	104
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Lisa Kelly has single-sided deafness. She is also half Danish. Her debut, A Map Towards Fluency (Carcanet 2019), was shortlisted for for the Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize 2021. She is co-Chair of Magma Poetry and a regular host of poetry evenings at the Torriano Meeting House, London. She has been studying British Sign Language (BSL) for several years and has a Signature Level 6 qualification in BSL. She teaches poetry and performance, and is a freelance technology journalist. To escape noise, she walks and looks out for, among other things, fungi.

Editorial Reviews

'First thing I love about Lisa Kelly's work is her incredible imagination – she tells the truth (about oralism, discrimination, injustice) but tells it in a way that’s so lyrical it's instantly memorable. Which is to say: Kelly invents her own style. The second thing I love about The House of the Interpreter is that this manifesto for D/deaf culture, shimmering with music and lyric abandon, is unafraid of discovery...' Ilya Kaminsky

'Kelly's words are a sensory joy. We are taken through time, space and dimensions – almost quantum leaping through her observations, whilst she remains rooted to the Earth and attunes "to life's vibrations" and nature.' Sophie Stone

'In Kelly's second collection the speaker delves deeper into the nuances of Deaf culture, finding compelling connections (and networks) between the outer and inner worlds of deafness, BSL and between-ness.' Raymond Antrobus

From the Publisher