Wonder, Lust & Itchy Feet

About the Book In WONDER, LUST & ITCHY FEET a fearless, intelligent and eager woman─mother, lover, wife and daughter─collects for the first time a selection of poetry from her first four decades of living and writing. Unhesitatingly she exposes intimate feelings and heartfelt values about friendship, family, desire, disaster, finding a home and exploring the world. There is disappointment and rebellion here; but also humour and wisdom. There is passion, pain, regret, hope; a desire to love and live to the full. The work feels powered by a desire to find life’s joy, knowing that tomorrow we die; yet there is also a generous understanding that a new generation will take our place, live and love in their turn. Sally Dellow’s deliberate use of simple language provides a counterpoint to her sophistication of structure, delightful and meaningful word-play, and entertaining rhyme. There is a wide range of reference garnered from rich experience of life and travel in many cultures and countries. As a poet, Sally Dellow has a highly intelligent understanding of the right words and concepts to express, and communicate effectively, deep-felt universal experiences in a highly personal way. Among the many striking and strong poems in this collection, ‘Sand’ is one that has the resonance of a modern classic. About the Author SALLY DELLOW grew up in Germany, Cyprus and Australia, the second of three daughters born to an English military officer and a Welsh teacher. She attended twelve schools in thirteen years before studying law at King's College, University of London. A year as a London commuter put her off settling in the UK, so she left with a backpack, a one-way ticket to New York and US$100 hidden in her left boot! She spent two years traveling and working (receptionist in a old folks' home, toilet cleaner, paging telephonist, milkshake maker…) through North America, Australasia and South East Asia before finally arriving in Hong Kong — which has been her home for more than twenty years. With her second husband, Paul (an ornithologist), Sally has two children — Eliza and Flynn. She has a busy and successful career running her consultancy, Dramatic Difference, through which she works for corporate clients as an Executive Coach, Facilitator and professional Roleplayer. Also an actor and playwright, Sally has staged her adaptation of C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, and four original works (Labour of Love, Pinocchio — A Pantomime, Making Boobs and Dreams in Sight) in Hong Kong. Sally's poetry has appeared in the anthologies OutLoud, PoetryLive! and Not A Muse; she has also published pieces in the Asia Literary Review and online through the Asia-Pacific Writers Network. She particularly loves performing her poetry and has taken it from page to stage at the Hong Kong Fringe Festival, OutLoud and the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival. "Dellow is raucous, irreverent and achingly naked. This collection is all tender warmth and wonder, but hilarious and 'Hot as Wasabi' too."— Martin Alexander, author of Clearing Ground and Poetry Editor of the Asia Literary Review "Generous and intimate poems" — David W. Hill, Fiction Writer and Assistant Editor of Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives "Sally Dellow's collection reveals a desire to grasp poetry—and life—by the horns. These poems are characterised by a humour and lightness of touch that enable both writer and reader to engage with issues that matter…. There is much pain, much sweetness to be found within these pages." — Viki Holmes, author of miss moon's class and co-editor of the international women's poetry anthology Not a Muse "With an artist's eye, Sally Dellow looks at key aspects of life—the search for a home, the need for companionship, the satisfaction of family—and finds something amazing in each remembered detail. She selects scenes from her experience as a traveler, mother and writer, and presents them with an immediacy that allows us to share in the moment. Each poem in this collection contains insight into what it means to be aware, worldly and human in the present day. — Thaddeus Rutkowski, author of "Haywire" "Wonder, Lust & Itchy Feet is an intimate journey; the emotional vulnerability gives the pieces their veracity. Tellingly, many Hong Kong poems in the Itchy Feet section declare an unavowed commitment to the place that she has made her home. Perhaps she has scratched that particular itch for the last time." — David McKirdy, author of Accidental Oriental