Carole Satyamurti's The Hopeful Hat reviewed in The Guardian & Observer
'...The Hopeful Hat is a masterclass in premonition and departure... This is a moving book that feeds our yearning for hope, while also questioning the meaning of hopefulness.' - Kit Fan, The Guardian
The Hopeful Hat is the late Carole Satyamurti's final collection. It was published by Bloodaxe on 23 February 2023, and is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Spring 2023. The preface by the poet's daughter, Emma Satyamurti, places this collection in the larger context of four decades of published work, and provides insight into the poems gathered together here.
Carole Satyamurti's Bloodaxe retrospective, Stitching the Dark: New & Selected Poems (2005), drew on five collections. It was followed by two later collections, Countdown (2011), and her final collection, The Hopeful Hat, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, published posthumously in 2023.
POETRY BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE IN THE OBSERVER
The Observer, Poetry book of the month, Sunday 12 March 2023
Carole Satyamurti’s final collection The Hopeful Hat was Kate Kellaway's poetry book of the month in The Observer of 12 March. The half-page feature was accompanied by the poem 'Hold On' from the collection.
'The calm, wit and grace with which she writes makes reading her poems moving but never depressing.' - Kate Kellaway, The Observer (Poetry book of the month), on The Hopeful Hat
In print in The Observer's The New Review supplement of 12 March.
Read in full online via The Guardian's website here.
POEM OF THE WEEK FEATURE IN THE GUARDIAN
The Guardian, Poem of the Week, online Monday 6 March 2023
Carol Rumens discussed Carole Satyamurti’s poem ‘Small Change’ - which she calls ‘a brave piece of writing’ - in her online Poem of the Week column in The Guardian on 6 March. The poem is from Satyamurti’s posthumously published collection The Hopeful Hat.
‘Small Change is a brave piece of writing, an exposure of inadequacies of personal and civic responsibility which few of us will fail to shudder at. Not least because of its cold honesty, it’s a silver coin dropped into the hopeful hat of any reader aspiring to the examined life. There are many more such gifts in this posthumous collection, beautifully edited and introduced by the poet’s daughter Emma Satyamurti.’ – Carol Rumens, Poem of the Week, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/06/poem-of-the-week-small-change-by-carole-satyamurti
REVIEW COVERAGE
The Guardian, Best Recent Poetry, online 3 February, in print Saturday 4 February 2023
The late Carole Satyamurti’s final collection The Hopeful Hat was very well reviewed in Kit Fan’s round up of the best recent poetry in The Guardian. The review appeared in print in the Saturday magazine of 4 February and again in The Guardian Weekly.
'…The Hopeful Hat is a masterclass in premonition and departure... She’ll be remembered for big-hearted, socially responsible poems that are intent on change but reconciled to limitation. This is a moving book that feeds our yearning for hope, while also questioning the meaning of hopefulness.’ – Kit Fan, The Guardian (Best recent poetry round-up)
Read in full online on The Guardian website here.
Mslexia, Issue 97, March-May 2023
The Hopeful Hat was very well reviewed by Ellora Sutton in the spring issue of Mslexia magazine. Her review covers subject, style, signature, and concludes with a summing up.
‘… Satyamurti’s lyric meditations marry emotional clarity with imagery that lingers in the mind’s eye.’ – Ellora Sutton, Mslexia
In print, or online by subscription here.
ONLINE REVIEW COVERAGE
The Friday Poem, online 5 May 2023
The Hopeful Hat was given a very generous and detailed review in The Friday Poem of 5 May.
‘These poems are quiet, insistent, intimate. They’re plain speaking. Her canvas ranges from the personal to the global... The book grows ever stiller and more beautiful, for this reader, as it progresses. There’s something about choosing the right words, ones that will bear fruit and witness.’ - Charlotte Gann, The Friday Poem, on The Hopeful Hat
https://thefridaypoem.com/the-hopeful-hat/
The High Window, online 1 March 2023
Carole Satyamurti's final collection was given a very warm review in The High Window on 1 March. Edmund Prestwich began by looking in detail at the poem ‘Small Change’ which is due to be featured in The Guardian on 6 March.
‘This posthumous collection is a work of impressive artistry and depth… what I find impressive isn’t just the precision and economy with which these poems are written but the stance they take, the direction of their vision. Instead of asking us to look at her own situation, Satyamurti looks through it at other people’s experiences and broader human meanings… Altogether, this is a book I’d warmly recommend and expect to enjoy over many years.’ – Edmund Prestwich, The High Window, on The Hopeful Hat
Read in full here.
London Grip, online 18 February 2023
The Hopeful Hat was well reviewed in the international online cultural magazine London Grip on 18 February. Read in full here.
‘… though shaded by mortality, it’s not a sad book, rather the reverse, offering as it does its own very personal witness to the courage of the human spirit—a spirit encapsulated by the busker’s ‘hopeful hat’ in the title poem.’ – Stuart Henson, London Grip
[03 February 2023]
