Stillness Lies Deep

Norwich-based poets Joy McCall and Tim Lenton collaborate in this unusual book, which captures the essence of Norfolk in a way probably never attempted before: by means of a “conversation” between Joy and Tim using tanka – Japanese verse forms that are short, easily accessible and at the same time quite profound.

These are combined with Tim’s photographs of the county from Thornham to Caistor, and from Shotesham to Fring (and as an added bonus, a solitary venture into the highlands of Scotland).

Joy is a retired nurse and an internationally acclaimed tanka writer. Tim is a former columnist on the Eastern Daily Press and, more recently, a prize-winning poet.

“Writing pentaptychs – sets of five tanka – Joy McCall and Tim Lenton tell the story of their Norwich home. Haunted and mist-laden, they follow the ancient trails to the sea, the woods, and the fields.”
M. Kei

“This beautiful collection lets us eavesdrop on a poetic conversation between two talented writers. Their call and response is conducted in tanka poems that are vivid, fluent, surprising. Tim Lenton’s atmospheric photographs give us their starting points. A reflective, haunting book that stays with the reader long after it is read.”
Caroline Gilfillan

“This joyous partnership of words and pictures sets Norfolk to a new kind of music.”
Keith Skipper