Some Bright Elegance captures those moments of transformation when people, places or objects take on new significances. In the book this is explored in relation to bereavement, the transcendental qualities of music and the search for understanding between people.
Some Bright Elegance is about the changes that are a part of life in the 21st Century. In the book this is explored in relation to the search for meaning and consolation in the wake of bereavement, the memorial role of music, and the effects of social change on local communities. The book is also threaded with imagined scenes centred on those defining moments when people, places or objects take on new significances.
When Chingonyi speaks his poems; he has them all by heart, a relatively rare skill which allows the poet to connect more completely with his audience. The same vibrant personality comes through on the page with language full of internal rhyme and complex rhythms. But it is the subject matter that most enthrals; I've heard several poetry grandees bewail the reluctance of British poets to tackle the `big issues', but these poems do exactly that; issues of life, death, race, faith, family and authenticity are raised and meditated on here, in a thoughtful collection.
-- Judi Sutherland * There Must Be More to Life Than Having It All *