Book description
In the Wake of the Day is a book of memories and journeys; from the
chaotic energy of urban life in modern Istanbul, where John Ash lives,
to the ruins of vanished civilisations; from personal incident to the
narratives and vacancies of cultures. Ash inhabits the fertile and
ambiguous territory where East and West meet. We 'know and do not
know' the past. In an 'imperial city without empire, place of
paradox', time too becomes fluid. The ancient, half-imagined past of
Ur, Alexandria, Cappadocia coexists with a contemporary world in which
'tank tracks are driven over Babylon'.
At the centre of this collection are John Ash's versions of poems
by the great Alexandrian C. P. Cavafy. Working with Cavafy's voice,
Ash expresses his own urbane intelligence.
John Ash was born in Manchester in 1948 and read English at the
University of Birmingham. He lived for a year in Cyprus, and in
Manchester between 1970 and 1985, before moving to New York. Since
1996 he has lived in Istanbul. His poetry has appeared in many
publications including the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Village
Voice, Oasis, PN Review and Paris Review. Two of his Carcanet
collections, The Goodbyes (1982) and Disbelief (1987) were Poetry Book
Society Choices. He has also written two books about Turkey, A
Byzantine Journey and Turkey: The Other Guide.
