Gilbert Adair Reads from SYZEM: Book Two

During a recent visit to Stroud, Hawaii-based poet Gilbert Adair gave an impromptu reading from his recently published ‘SYZEM: Book Two – A Book of Sky and Islands (& a city)’. Gilbert gives a short introduction to the work, in which he explains the inspiration for it. In this case that involves the cultivation of genetically modified crops in Kawaihae designed to withstand pesticides. This is combined with elements of the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, the story of Salome and the ‘Salomania’ craze that spread the Europe and America at the beginning of the 20th century. Following Gilbert’s reading there is a short discussion between myself and Gilbert about the work.