Corncockle is the first full collection of Diana Mitchener’s poetry.  It contains thirty eight poems written over the last ten years.

In preparation for an M.A. in Creative Writing, Diana Mitchener explored the work of new poets who: ‘… seize the words/they grab them by the neck/ and deep-throat straight into your gullet - Bam!’ ‘   

Corncockle is the outcome of abandoning a lifetime of traditional forms and harmonious rhymes to produce poems that are ‘bold, intelligent and well-crafted, with an admirable deployment of evocative language and imagery’ (Fay Marshall, 2009). Each has its own voice and its own perspective on life-changes, landscapes and inter-relationships.

Diana Mitchener ‘has an imagination that sees the possibilities in all things’ (Mandy Pannett, 2009).  A modest wild flower bursts into life as the cockerel of the title poem; other wild flowers are scatttered through the poems as motifs signalling mood and attitude.  A fresh energy flows through the book, surprising the reader with images that are ‘fresh-baked, crusty, wholemeal on the tongue’.

Titles include:  Tai Chi in Summer; Gypsy Grass; Shapeshifter; Carpe Diem; Omens; The Second Arrow; Night Visions;  Counting the Sunsets;  Wild Flowers near Criccieth.

Diana Mitchener has worked closely with language throughout her career. Now a retired senior lecturer, she is involved with several poetry groups in West Sussex (see www.slipstream_poets.co.uk) and has performed several poems in this collection.

 

Corncockle: ISBN  978-0-9562726-1-4.  A 5, paperback, perfect bound, 44 pages. July 2009.