Begun two decades ago as a tanka sequence dedicated to Roy Lichtenstein, R. W. Watkins's Waka-Cola is the long-awaited fourth title in the Poetical Perspectives series from Nocturnal Iris. Throughout the volume, Watkins pays tribute to most of the major American masters of 1950s and '60s pop art and neo-dada, utilising the Japanese tanka-or waka-form of poetry to emulate their styles and concepts. Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, George Segal and Ray Johnson are celebrated ever so imaginatively by Watkins, all the while adhering to the traditional 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structure. The result is a short collection that both demonstrates the poet's ability to transcend the perceived limits of the waka form, and serves as a poetic reflexion of the mid 20th century New York art scene. Highly visual in their application and pop-cultural in their subject matter, these poems foreshadow similar projects forthcoming in the PP series; so watch this space....

In 1974, Laird Koenig published the novel The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. A film version, directed by Nicolas Gessner and starring Jodie Foster, appeared two years later. A dramatic adaptation by Mr. Koenig was published decades after in 1997. Considered a one-of-a-kind thriller and cult classic, TLGWLDTL now undergoes a considerably extensive analysis by Canadian poet R. W. Watkins. A longtime fan of writer Koenig and actress Foster, Watkins examines the story from various angles, pointing out its Judeo/Christian themes, Holocaust symbolism, film continuity errors, similarities to Ayn Rand's objectivism, etc. Many of these essays originally appeared in Watkins's 2003 fanzine Cellar. Watkins drew upon TLGWLDTL for his 2005 haiku chapbook, New England Country Farmhouse. The introductory essay from that volume is collected in this book. Rewardingly eccentric, View From The Cellar is essential reading for any hardcore fan of Koenig's tale and 1970s pop culture in general.

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