Wanda Barford

Wanda Barford was born in Milan. In 1939 her family emigrated to Southern Rhodesia to escape anti-Jewish persecution. She later studied music at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and married an Englishman. Flambard Press (1990 - 2012)  published five full collections of Wanda's poems and in 2017 D&W published her sixth, SHALL HAVE TO STOP NOW, which is based on imaginative letter-poems, as a pamphlet.


Previous collections, published by Flambard Poetry Press:
"Sweet Wine and Bitter Herbs"
"A Moon at the Door"
"Losing. Finding"
"Wanted on Voyage"
What is the Purpose of your Visit?

From Miriam to her Aunt in Brooklyn
Dear Aunt Rebecca,
  
You’ve heard, maybe, we’re sailing on the Exodus
to Haifa; there are about 2000 of us,
survivors from those desperate days and nightmare nights.

We left Marseille, in France, four days ago
and every time I think of Haifa and Carmel
my heart misses a beat, leaps up with joy.
Now I can see Mount Carmel gleaming in the sun,
I feel so moved that tears run down my cheeks…
But what is this? The sound of gunfire fills the air!
 
The ship is turning round…goodbye most Holy Land!
We will be dropped in Cyprus so they say.
The British own these parts, they’ll do just as they please.

Goodbye dear Aunt, I’ll post this letter when we land.
Pray for us…


© Wanda Barford

SHALL HAVE TO STOP NOW​ by Wanda Barford

ISBN 978-1-907435-44-7
32 poems, 39 pages
Perfect-bound paperback
​150mm x 210mm   
​RRP £6.00

Wanda Barford writes: 
"I was delighted and intrigued to discover that in seventeenth-century Italy, a poet called Gaspara Stampa had written many letter-poems, mostly in sonnet form."

The charming poems in this collection reflect Wanda Barford's early cosmopolitan life in Milan. Paris and South Africa, and her life-long interest in music.
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