Robert Powell holds a newly printed copy of his sixth poetry collection, The Arrow, ahead of his book launch at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, on November 6
AN arrow fails to return to earth. Adolf Hitler is spotted at a bowling alley. A talkative beaver foretells the future.
Welcome to Canadian-born York poet, playwright, storyteller and journalist Robert Powell’s innovative sixth collection, The Arrow, wherein a man contemplates his upbringing in a country he left long ago, haunted by its landscapes, the people he knew and one friend especially. Namely the truth-seeking fabulist, conservative iconoclast and vulnerable trickster O’Connell O’Connell.
Decades later the man returns to his native land with his pregnant wife, determined to discover the deeper significance of his past and to learn of O’Connell’s fate.
Robert will launch The Arrow at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, in Acomb, York, on November 6 from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, when he will be joined by Valley Press publisher Jamie McGarry and fellow poets Julia Deakin and Nicky Kippax (who is also the co-proprietor of the Bluebird Bakery chain in York, Malton and Leeds).
“The poems in The Arrow are both personal and universal: imaginative, humorous, unflinching,” says Robert, who describes the collection as being as much an elegy, confession and celebration as a coming-of-age drama. “They explore the light and dark of childhood and adolescence, the nature of time, and the evasive but lasting power of memory.”
At this juncture, should you be asking “What’s a Canadian doing in York, and furthermore writing about our past? Why York? What’s his story? What’s he up to? And why, here in Yorkshire, is he now publishing a set of poems inspired by his upbringing in Canada?”, let Robert give the answer to his own questions.
“Ever since I was a little boy, almost pre-education, I was fascinated by the past and history, in particular British history, from my ancestry,” he says.
“There was this house called The House Of England, full of stuff, and growing up in suburban Canada, where I had this hunger for the past, this house stimulated my interest.
“Me and my friends used to go into the fields to dig for Roman artefacts, but that of course was absurd as digging for Roman artefacts was impossible in Canada, but it indicated my leaning toward history. That’s partly why the narrator in the book leaves the country, and not only did I come once, but I came twice to York as it’s the perfect place for me with it’s layering of the past, like an amazing cake.
“In York, you can see the various pasts the city has had, which ties in with my other works such as Punch Porteous [the rogue and traveller, dazed, confused and lost in time within the city], who falls haphazardly into various times in York’s past.”
Robert Powell: From Canada with poetry. Picture: Bruce Amos
How apt that Robert and his wife, contemporary oil painter Di Gomery, have moved to a house built on the Trentholme Drive Archaeological Site, a Romano-British burial ground located off The Mount. “It’s a Roman graveyard, which is perfect, having started digging for ‘Roman artefacts’ at the age of seven. That’s why I’m as happy as Larry living in York, now publishing an autobiographically inspired book, partly about my background, but also about the old country versus the new country.”
Why call the collection The Arrow? “This book is about memory, and therefore time’s arrow is the most obvious reference, hence the collection’s title,” says Robert.
“The Arrow is as much a story as a collection of individual poems, where I write of these young lads firing bows and arrows – and one is reported as having never come down.”
Robert makes a reference to one of ancient Greek philosopher Zeno’s Paradoxes, the one where a flying arrow is motionless. “What fascinates me is that the arrow represents a sense of memory, which is still because it persists but it’s always changing too,” he says.
Powell is the narrator’s voice in The Arrow; O’Connell O’Connell is the narrator’s best friend, shaped as a complex amalgam of his friends. “The story is autobiographical in that I was over here for 20 years, went back to Canada with my pregnant wife, had our first child, lived there for eight years and then paradoxically came back to live here again,” says Robert.
“But it also uses the poems to tell stories that are not sugary and light but quite dark at times. There’s even a theme of misogyny, careless misogyny, that does turn into violence in a couple of pieces.”
The Arrow is divided into four Acts. “I’m borrowing that from theatre,” says Robert. “There’s also a list of dramatis personae, so The Arrow encompasses poetry, theatre and narrative.
“I’ve even put an interlude right in the middle of the book where a talking beaver approaches the boy who has broken his arm and speaks to him in a humorous way, predicting the boy’s future. So there’s humour in the book; it’s not just another poetry collection.”
The Arrow is Robert’s sixth poetry collection in the past 15 years, where York’s past and present interweave. “I’m trying to bring more imagination into play, to question some of the clichés about York’s past, while still promoting it,” he says.
Robert Powell, The Arrow book launch, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, with special guests Julia Deakin and Nicky Kippax, November 6, 7.30pm. Cue poetry, drinks and cake. Entry is free; to book a place, go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-the-arrow-by-robert-powell-tickets-2002800516258?aff=oddtdtcreator.
The Arrow will be published by Valley Press, Scarborough, on November 5. Order at https://valleypressuk.com/. Time Town, Powell’s poems about a Georgian museum and a man lost in time, from his 2023-2024 residency with York Civic Trust, is available from https://www.rjpowell.org/ or York Civic Trust.
Robert Powell narrating the multi-media performance of Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! at All Saints, North Street, York, in October 2023
Robert Powell back story
BORN and raised in Canada, Robert Powell has spent most of his career in the UK and now lives in York. His working practice has embraced journalism, the arts, curating, event management and urbanism.
In addition to cultural management and creative writing, he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
Robert has published six collections of poetry: Harvest Of Light (2007), All (2015), Riverain and Aura (2018), Lost & Found (2021), Time Town: Some Poems of York (2024) and now The Arrow (November 5 2026).
He has worked frequently with other artists, making two short films, The River Speaks with Ben Pugh and Source with Jan-Erik Andersson, and two collaborative film/performances with Kitty Greenbrown and Ben Pugh, commissioned by York Theatre Royal.
He won the Elmet Prize in 2010 and was short-listed in the 2017 National Poetry Competition. In 2018 he was an artist in residence with the Kone Foundation in Finland and received a York Culture Award for Writing Excellence.
In 2020 he produced the diary-like Notes From A Border River, inspired by time spent on the Irish border during Brexit negotiations.
He was writer in residence with York Civic Trust in 2023-2024, producing the collection Time Town and writing and performing in Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!, his account of a man catapulted unwillingly into York’s past.