Description
The Moscow Poetry File
by John Huey
$19.99, Full-length, paper
In 2004 an American businessman was invited to Moscow to explain a new technical development to the Government there. Little did he know that this would the beginning of life altering process leading to the love he had always sought but never found as well as a way back to a career as an artist that had escaped him. Between 2004 and 2013 he discovered not only the perils of life in Moscow but also something of the beauty and humanity of its people. Despite many personal struggles he, along with the woman who would later become his wife, overcame many of the issues inherent in an intergenerational and cross-cultural relationship and made it, literally, and sometimes nearly at the cost of their lives, to the other side. Many tragic events in Russia framed his time there but the most profound personal impact was felt by the murder, in October 2006, of his neighbor at Lesnaya 8, the journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The clearly political Politkovskaya killing sounded the death knell for a free press in Russia and the ever-tightening grip of Putin’s regime on all aspects of life there. Though most Russians support Putin both the author and his wife were deeply moved by the few who struggle against him and were proud to know some of the artists and intellectuals emblematic of what little true resistance remains there. A love for these few is expressed in many of the poems in the book. Be it on the sidewalk on Tverskaya Street, in the Metro, Restaurants or Clubs, ‘The Moscow Poetry File’ gives the reader, in poetic form, a true insight into life there and the danger as well as the excitement inherent in virtually every aspect of daily life. The book is also a great love story and depicts the struggle of two people finding their way to each other despite enormous odds. This struggle, and the triumph of love and mutual respect over adversity is an underlying theme in the book that is depicted with telling effect. ‘The Moscow Poetry File’, which has been anthologized in the ‘Temptation’ anthology published by Lost Tower in London, is a compelling view of a dynamic place at a tragic and pivotal time. With “all things Russian” much in the news since the advent of Trump this detailed American perspective, from the ground level, is a unique study, in verse, of a society and culture still mysterious and perplexing to the Western eye.
John Huey‘s student work of the 60’s-70’s was influenced by teachers in Vermont such as John Irving at Windham College and William Meredith at Bread Loaf. After many years of involvement in an ongoing international business career that involved travel to over 90 different countries (including an intense, sometimes perilous, engagement with Russia between 2004-2013) he returned to writing poetry in 2011. Recently he has had poems presented in two issues of Poetry Quarterly and in the Temptation anthology published in London by Lost Tower Publications. Work has also appeared in Leannan Magazine, Sein und Werden, at In Between Hangovers, Red Wolf Journal, The Lost River Review and Perfume River Poetry Review. A poem regarding the Trump inauguration will appear shortly in an anthology to be published by Poets for Sanctuary (formerly known as Poets Against Trump). The Moscow Poetry File is his first full length publication. His second full length book of poems, The Far Visible, was completed in 2016 and is now under review for publication. In 2017 Huey is in the final stages of a yet to be titled, 70 longer form poem book, involving the years 1966-1972. He was a ‘charter member’ of that generation and has not been satisfied with much of what he has seen in print and on film about that often trivialized and misunderstood era. This new work is an attempt to take another look at those years and to hopefully contribute to the ongoing study of those times. In 2018, he is planning to start work in earnest on his first novel, The Lost Andy’s, and he is looking forward to that adventure. Further information is available on the web at www.john-huey.com.
Beverly Schneller –
That John Huey sees the world with a poet’s eye and a world of wisdom is evident in this fine first book of verse. It is attractively printed and typeset with the readers’ enjoyment in mind. Each poem is well developed, featuring precise language, clarity, and an assured voice. This book creates an environment that is warm, alive, and rich in colors, personalities, moods, and architectures, manmade and natural. Each piece is complete on its own, but taken together the volume makes a provocative narrative of the seen, unseen, discovered and hidden, which in the end creates an interest in seeing more of Huey’s poetry.