Book review: Erimos by Mark Lewis

Philippa Davies

Whatever it is, Erimos, written by Mark Lewis and illustrated by Peter Stevenson is a great work of art, and deserving of pride for its creators.

I say ‘whatever it is’ because Mark describes it as a prose-poem, but I’d call it a story in poetry, as the story of utterly evil Erimos and lovely good Charlotte, aged 10 at the start, is the dominant driving idea. The story is strong and clear, and the poetry ranges from most lyrical to hilarious.

‘Words came to him about her –

Indefatibable, Stubborn, Annoying, oh yes, annoying

Like a stone in his shoe, like a cockroach.

He sat back and stroked his belly

Gurgled, burped, farted a relief.

I quite like her, he thought, but how she annoys me,

Like Ken Loach.’

Now there’s a lot of hot air generated about how you define but poetry, but poetry goddess Jo Bell uses obvious pattern as her top criteria, and who’s to disagree with the founder of The Poetic Licence? There’s pattern aplenty here, in layout, list poems, alliteration, repetition and rhyme. It alludes to Dylan Thomas, and made me think of Alice Oswald, TS Elliot and Philip Larkin.

Beautiful

Erimos is a beautiful object of a book, a fine testimony to collaboration between writer Mark and illustrator Peter. It has elegant typography, a generous sprinkling of full page illustrations and  what I’ve recently learnt is called a French Flap (oui – chouette!) where the front cover folds round.

The poems are in short chunks, as many of us like to read these days, and come in at around 130 pages. Thanks to strong narrative, it’s a dip-in-and-out read or a couldn’t-put-it-down in a couple of hours read, by reckoning here. The quality of the book both in production and writing is quite exceptional, and it’ll be a Christmas gift from me to poet friends, and young adult readers with literary taste. For teachers, it could most usefully be read aloud.

Contemporary

On the aforementioned French Flap, Erimos is described as a blend of timeless mythology and contemporary darkness. The mythological aspect comes through in character, Erimos has a crow as his familiar, and the perpetual struggle between good and evil:

‘She knew the road to travel. She would not hide

From the true north of her truth.

Erimos held blame

of turning one against the other, in debate,

belief, faith, identity…….

But ever holding vigil, holding ever wilful,

Unerring, she clasped the weight of her honest yoke.’

And the contemporary darkness is most resonant throughout. It may just be coincidence, but Erimos sounds a lot like Elon Musk to these ears.

‘Erimos had crawled into people’s minds

And expressed himself in their despair –

Her father now read the papers

And watched the  bad news unfold on flickering screens

And scrolled the pages for some good tidings.

There was none. Happiness was in hiding, confused.

(To Erimos, that was the best of news).

He muttered often to himself

Fearful for the world his children would receive;

His hands shook as he poured the drink,

Looking for hope, for some reprieve.’

Blessed

Writing this review has reminded me of how we’re blessed in Wales with true and deep creative talent, which often may be most local to us and overlooked. Because for many of these creatives, there’s a no-boast clause written into their D.N.A.

I suspect Mark’s talent has been lurking behind a curator’s badge for many years and I’m thrilled to be able to give it a shout out here. Thank-you, and for literary fan-people and lovers of book artefacts –  a must have!

Mark Lewis was curator at Tenby Museum for thirty years, and he’s now a freelance heritage expert busy across Pembrokeshire on various projects. He’s written plays and novels and gives talks on Dylan Thomas, Richard Burton and other interesting characters from Welsh culture. And he currently curates an exhibition by  Manic Street Preacher Nicky Wire at Narberth Museum. You can buy his book Erimos here.

Peter Stevenson, is a storyteller, children’s writer, and book illustrator, with many books to his name, including four on Welsh folk stories.  He is a popular and beloved storyteller and here are some of his titles.