NOVEMBER 2024
15 Nov 9pm
ENFIELD POETS at FORTY HALL
Lutenist Sam Brown and Cheryl Moskowitz
Forty Hall, Forty Hill
Enfield EN2 0HA
REVIEWS FOR MATERNAL IMPRESSION
Heidi Beck at Sphinx Poetry Pamphlet Reviews & Features
One image from this pamphlet sticks with me particularly, from ‘Daughter in the Garden’. A girl is standing at the edge of a garden: She is poised as if waiting for something/but there is nothing, only summer stillness.The moment is described in exquisite detail, as she raises her arms and executes a ‘perfect cartwheel.’ Following the restrictions of the past year and more, this strikes me as a moment we all now inhabit, ready to raise our arms and propel ourselves into action.
Emma Lee at Emma Lee's blog
The responsibility for raising and nurturing the next generation still largely falls on mothers and most of, but not all of, the poems in “Maternal Impression” explore the relationship between mother and child, as well as the wider role of parenting and the trust ordinary people have to put into authority figures, whether elected or self-appointed. What happens when the parental figure gets it right or gets it wrong? [...] The poems are deftly crafted and thought-provoking.
Pat Edwards at londongrip.co.uk
Here we find just eighteen poems beautifully presented in a slim, unfussy volume. The pamphlet title, which is also the title poem, takes the reader to a place where birth leaves a mark, makes an indentation like a footprint, and sets a permanent reminder that both mother and child are inextricably linked. [...] This is poetry that makes you think for yourself rather than imposing ideas as if by holding your arm behind your back. These are poems that stay with you and have much resonance in these current troubled times.
REVIEWS FOR CAN IT BE ABOUT ME?
Julia Eccleshare - http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk
A delightfully varied collection of poems which capture many of the familiar things that take place in classrooms, every day and every where. All children will recognise themselves in some poems whether it is Lunchbox Hero or Number Troubles! Ros Asquith's well-observed and wittily executed illustrations highlight the details perfectly. Poems about friendship, playing games, teachers, bullying, jealousy, quarrels and secrets! Funny, thoughtful and entertaining, Cheryl Moskowitz is an exciting new talent, and in tune with what goes on inside and outside the classroom. This exciting debut collection is inspired by workshops with Year 3 pupils (age 7).
'Nayuleska's thoughts' - http://nayusreadingcorner.blogspot.co.uk
Poetry isn't something I read all that often. I remember I had a beautifully illustrated treasury of poems when I was at primary school which I'd look at the pictures and sometimes read the poems. This looked like a fun poetry collection & it is. I enjoyed the explanation of the poems' origins, how some are literary poems with rules that have to be followed: I've heard of haikus bu I hadnt heard of cinquains. Most aspects of school life are explored in the poems which sent me along memory lane in this 10/10 read.
The Booktrust
Exploring life in and out of the classroom, the poems in this collection explore everything from spelling tests to best friends, teachers to secrets. Meet a variety of different characters in a range of different situations, providing a vivid picture of school life.
Funny, thoughtful and engaging, these poems include both short, easy-to-read humorous poems that will make young readers smile, and more serious poems that deal with subjects such as bullying, jealousy and quarrels. A thought-provoking and enjoyable poetry book that will appeal to a wide range of readers and is ideal as a starting point for discussion about friendship and other school issues.
Armadillo magazine - children's books, news, reviews, selected by Adele Geras, reviewer Yvonne Coppard
This is a gem of a collection of poems, all set in Primary School and complemented by illustrations that are just right for the text. Each poem is prefaced by a little introduction from the poet, where she describes what she saw or heard in school that made her write the poem, and shares memories of her own primary school days.
There is a reassuring sense of balance between commentary, poems and illustrations, and in the poetry itself is a wealth of carefully observed and recollected vignettes of childhood experience: funny, poignant, angry and hopeful by turns, it is a lovely gift for a primary school child.
REVIEWS FOR THE GIRL IS SMILING
The Sunday Telegraph, 'Best New Poetry' March 25, 2012 reviewer: Mark Sanderson
Cheryl Moskowitz's promising debut collection, The Girl is Smiling, deals with similar themes but, born in Chicago, American optimism shines through her work - usually. Her prose poems - "A Walk in the Park", "Wednesday" and "Fruit" - are the highlights of the book. Click to download full review
Warwick Review, Vol VI no. 3 September 2012, pp 172-173 reviewer: William Bedford
"I am an experiment that cannot be undertaken" Cheryl Moskowitz tells us in 'Scientific Autobiography', and there is something of the scientist's objectivity which gives the poems of The Girl is Smiling their quiet power... In the lovely 'Alice', just as the "blind sweep and swerve of bats" comes too close "but not quite far enough / away to want to keep in touch" in the Oedipal 'About Mothers, by Daughters'. Love is the real theme of The Girl is Smiling, whether of the young or the old, beautifully captured in 'I Left My Heart' with its "salmon death silver pink / a new beginning" and its playful ringing of lines from the song 'You must remember this'. But some of the most powerful poems deal with the indignities of growing old. As Virginia Woolf said, "when our memories go, we go", and the marvellous 'Leaving' shows this agony of leaving as a parent and child play an agonising game of remembering... Moskowitz recognises "that every kiss is also a sting", as in 'Maternal Encounters and Thoughts Arising', but still "wants you to remember seeing her just like this, / with her eyes open" as in the final affirmative poem in the collection, 'Snapshot'. Click to download full review
Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 'Books' May 10, 2012 reviewer: Judith Robinson
...In 'The Girl Is Smiling' the poetic voice of Cheryl Moskowitz resonates with intimacy; it is tender, as well as vivid... Moskowitz's voice can also be subtle and quite particular. (The book) takes as subject matter an introspective, deep feeling woman's life concerns: human relationships, parenting, childhood, aging, and of course, love. Her voice is uniquely clear, yet nuanced, to this reader more universal than Jewish, more worldly than American, although the sensibility here reflects a wisdom we might proudly imagine we share. Click to download full review
London Jewish Chronicle 'Books' April 20, 2012 reviewer Peter Lawson
...(The) impressive poem, Lifted, concerns the kidnapping and abuse of a "scarecrow girl/a slip of a thing". It is deft and discreet in the manner in which it tackles its difficult subject. The rapid repetitions are suggestive of nursery rhyme, a place where an innocent girl encounters this "man/this guard/this brick of a thing/this thick-skinned/hard-nosed prick of a thing"... The life-fulfilling qualities of the family appear to be redemptive in Moskowitz's work, which contains some beautiful poems about mothers, fathers, and daughters. Click to download full review
REVIEWS FOR WYOMING TRAIL
The Observer 3rd May 1998 reviewer: Andrew Johnston
Wyoming Trail attempts much more than most novels in its fearless plunge into the deep pool of family, and one surfaces at the end startled by the psychological veracity Moskowitz has achieved.
The Express 9th May 1998 reviewer: Harriet Castor
An extraordinary, powerful novel.
The Mail On Sunday 24th May 1998 reviewer: Fiona Gray
A thoughtful first novel.Truthful and disturbing...
The Big Issue 4th May 1998
An emotional debut novel... a powerfully written foray into love, life and death.
The Glasgow Herald 9th June 1998 reviewer: Carl MacDougall
Book Of The Day
Scotland On Sunday 19th May 1998 reviewer: Kristina Woolnough
Deeply moving.
D+ Magazine May 1998
Written with a dry humour and hallucinatory style, it is powerful and entertaining.
Jewish Chronicle 3rd July 1998 reviewer: Donu Kogbara
I'm always grateful when an author appows me to feel deeply about a character. And Cheryl Moskowitz has given me much cause for gratitude in Wyoming Trail... kept this reader riveted with a flow of surprises.
