New books published
Rebecca Poole looks at two new books with very different themes – the first is AI generated poetry while the other reimagines of local history from the female perspective
Poems of 2023
An emerging poet has embraced technology by blending his written verse with AI for his debut books covering a wide range of topics from clouds to beans on toast and everything in between.
“The style of my poetry is quite unique because I use AI a lot and I fuse old styles like the classic poetic styles with very, very modern styles,” said Will J MacQuoid, the Lincoln-based writer.
“Nowadays there’s so much subject matter it’s absolutely off the scale, such as different metaverses and AI. I have always been interested in technology but even compared to 20 years ago it’s absolutely mindboggling.”
Will has been a visual and literary artist for 20 years and has enjoyed the process of fusing his work with technology to develop 120 poems across the two books.
Poems of 2023 is his first collection with two more books in the pipeline for next year.
“Poems of 2023 is all the things I found relevant in 2023. It’s all my own work, nobody asked me to write a poem about something that happened in 2023, it was just what I absorbed.”
The second book, to be released on the same day, is Poems of Insight, which provides researched information delving into the depths of topics such as carbon nanotubes and futuristic realities.
“I’ve written quite a detailed insight into how we could potentially live in multiple worlds, the multiverse that kind of thing.
“There’s quite a strategic one in a different reality, I’m very immersive and I like to delve into different universes and metaverses, working with AI and producing a poem with AI.”
Poems of 2023 and Poems of Insight can be ordered through www.olympiapublishers.com
Feisty Females – Old Bolingbroke: Through Our Imaginations
TALES of besieged castles, kidnappings, leprosy, and living burials are recounted by women - giving a different perspective of Lincolnshire’s history - in a new book out this month.
Feisty Females is a creative response to the Great Cowcher Book, which was a valuable insight into life in the Duchy of Lancaster published in 1402 created on the orders of Henry IV. It includes fictional stories about some of the county’s well-known medieval women from a time when their contributions were not often recognised or championed.
Writer and journalist, Rosanna McGlone explained: “Everybody has heard about the Domesday Book but nobody, including me, had ever heard of the Great Cowcher Book. It’s like a medieval land registry, so Henry IV commissioned it to find out what lands were in his Duchy, but because he was born in Old Bolingbroke Castle, he also had lots of land here.”
Rosanna was commissioned to explore the records spanning different eras throughout the medieval period and by analysing the available information, Rosanna decided on Feisty Females to draw attention to successful women of the age.
“I had to decide how to approach it because there were thousands of entries and I was only going to be writing eight stories. Hardly any of the landowners were women and that was obviously a really big thing back in the day but those women who did own land were pretty special.
“I wanted to give a voice to these women and I wanted to do it because I thought the women who had succeeded in that time were really strong in different ways.”
The historical fiction explores fresh perspectives of female-led stories, including Nicola de la Haye’s personal battle with the Earl of Salisbury and a tale with a twist in a modern-day police station as Alice de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln, is interrogated as to whether she is responsible for her younger brothers’ bizarre deaths.
“I think hopefully it’s a nice mix in that people who are interested in history know some of the people and then they’ll be introduced to lesser-known people.”
Feisty Females has been supported by medievalists from around the UK and has received backing from a series of funders including Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council.
The book will be available from June 8 at the Lincoln Visitor Information Centre or by emailing Rosanna directly