Nil Nil by Don Paterson

1. What was your favourite/least favourite poem? Why?
2.  How did you feel about the collection overall? Did you like/dislike it? Why?
3. Did you notice any particularly striking uses of simile/metaphor?
4. Could you relate to the subject matter of the poems?
5. How did you feel about the language used?
6. Paterson uses some unusual words within the poems and as titles - would you have liked footnotes or a glossary? Did the lack of one affect your reading of the poems?
7. Quite a few of the poems were written in the sonnet form - did you feel that these were successful?
8. Did you get much sense of the author or narrator from reading these poems?
9. Did you notice any recurring themes and ideas within the collection? 
10. How did you feel about the title poem?
11. How did you feel about the attitude to women in this collection?
12.  Did the collection feel too long/too short/just right?
13. Would you seek out more of the author's work?

Useful glossary:

Exeunt - used as a stage direction to specify that all (or certain named) characters leave the stage.
Heliographer - A device for transmitting messages by reflecting sunlight.
Perigee - the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is nearest to the earth.
Orchitis - inflammation of one or both of the testicles.

Obeah - a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices developed among West African slaves, specifically of Igbo origin.

Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine

1)   What were your overall impressions of the book? Did you like/dislike it? Why?

2)   What did you make of Rankine’s use of sections to divide up the book? Did they signal a change in subject matter? Did you think they were useful/necessary?

3)   The subject matter of the book is very emotive - how did the book make you feel as you were reading it? Did you have any physical/mental reactions? Was it a comfortable read?

4)   Do you think that Rankine dealt with the subject matter in a new or relevant way? Why?

5)   What did you think of the combination of prose and poetry? Was it effective? Did you like it? Did you want it to have more of one or the other?

6)   What did you think of the use of imagery within the book? How well does it work with text? What did you think of the layout? What message if any was it sending?

7)   Did you feel that book was relevant to you? Did it make you think about anything that had happened to you or anyone you know?

8)   Did you like the use of prose poetry? How do you think this fitted with the subject matter?

9)   Do you feel like the book has changed you or the way you think in any way?