Anne Pia's responses to Baudelaire's poetry are emotional, intellectual and linguistic. Given her profound love for France's language and culture, Pia set herself the challenge of recreating some of this powerful mix in our English language. She succeeded in this and draws the reader into the intimacy of her own intellectual and artistic journey.
'Anne Pia is a fresh voice among contemporary Scottish poets. The European context in which her imagination works, with poems responding to the work of Baudelaire, for instance, is taken as a given: Scotland and the community of European nations are mediated and represented in her poems with subtle understanding, sympathy and constructive insight, political realities that give "nurture" to "fledglings preparing to fly".' -- ALAN RIACH Through the poet's 'small and continuing dialogues', Transitory explores the ongoing state of change that we all inhabit. These intimate, elegant poems expose the impact of ourselves on the world, and the world on ourselves, touching on issues of identity, belonging and otherness with honesty and tenderness. From the Saltire Award shortlisted author of Language of My Choosing.
How do you choose your nationality?This is a question that Anne Pia often asked herself whilst growing up in Edinburgh. Born to Scottish-Italian parents, she was sent to Catholic School in contrast with her Scots-Italian cousins and spent her days helping out in the family cafe in Edinburgh.