For the Old Country

For the Old Country is the debut collection of poems from Richard Schwartz. These playful, witty and ironic poems are a unique record of a personal, tribal, political and above all global author.

The collection explores a range of themes across a variety of settings. The poems straddle worlds, both real and lost, with settings in Zimbabwe, Hackney and the lost spaces of Jewish Europe. This book also visits lost worlds including Rhodesia, the shtetl and childhood. Poems about age, death, love and yearning reveal Richard’s experience as he identifies the world of intellect with a Talmudic love of testing sacred notions. He encourages readers to consider identity, doubt, politics and God with thought-provoking and profound writing.

In essence a book of moving reports from the front line of a life examined, For the Old Country will appeal to fans of poetry, especially readers with questions about identity and beliefs.