Words of Weed and Wisdom

Words of Weed and Wisdom is a 2020 anthology of poetry, prose and artwork centred on cannabis culture and the experiences and viewpoints of people within it.

The contributors listed for the book are Alun Buffry, Clara O'Donnell, Jacqui Malkin, Jezza Austin, Mars Bilters, Melissa Doordaughter, Phil Monk, Rocky van de Benderskum, Ryan Kief, Sarah Dougan (also called Sarah Sativa), and Steve Cook. Jacqui Malkin contributed sketches, while Rocky van de Benderskum is credited with the cover artwork.

What the book is really about.

Despite the title, it doesn't appear to be simply a collection of poems praising marijuana. The publisher describes it as an anthology of poems, experience and observation, while bookseller descriptions call it a collection of poetry, prose and sketches by cannabis enthusiasts.

That gives the title Words of Weed and Wisdom a double meaning. “Weed” supplies the common cultural connection; “wisdom” is what the contributors believe they have learned or observed through their lives. So cannabis is a starting point for writing about broader subjects rather than necessarily the subject of every piece.

The likely thematic territory includes personal experience, freedom, cannabis prohibition and legalisation, friendship and community, humour, altered states of consciousness, philosophy and reflections on everyday life.

The countercultural element

This is probably the most important context for understanding the book.

Alun Buffry isn't simply a poet who occasionally writes about cannabis. Cannabis activism occupies a substantial part of his published work; his bibliography includes books such as Out of Joint: 20 Years of Campaigning for Cannabis and Time for Cannabis — The Prison Years.

Consequently, Words of Weed and Wisdom belongs to a tradition of grassroots or outsider writing rather than mainstream literary publishing. Its writers are speaking from within a community and recording their own experiences rather than approaching cannabis primarily as an academic, medical or journalistic subject.

That makes it potentially interesting as a social document as much as a poetry anthology. It preserves the language, humour, beliefs and personal perspectives of one particular part of British cannabis culture.

What kind of writing to expect

The book mixes poetry, prose and sketches, rather than presenting one continuous argument or story.

That means you're likely to encounter substantial changes of voice and tone as you move between contributors. The emphasis appears to be on direct personal expression rather than maintaining a uniform literary style.

ABeFree's description — an anthology of “poems, experience and observation” — is particularly revealing. It suggests three layers:

Poems — imaginative and expressive pieces.

Experience — things that have actually happened to the contributors.

Observation — their conclusions, opinions and reflections about society and life.

That combination explains the “Wisdom” half of the title nicely: the contributors aren't merely describing cannabis; they're putting forward things they feel experience has taught them.

An unusually communal book

Another notable feature is that authorship is deliberately collective. Although catalogues sometimes put Alun Buffry's name first, the fuller bibliographic record identifies eleven contributors.

That matters because treating this as simply “an Alun Buffry book” would miss its character. It is better regarded as a collection of voices from a particular community, with Buffry acting as one of its central organising figures.