This collection really resonated with me. Perhaps this is due to the themes of moving away from home and living in a foreign country that I relate closely to, but I agree with Vicki Feaver’s description of it as a collection that is both “unsettling and often incredibly moving.” The collection opens with the quoteContinueContinue reading “‘Passport’ Review”
Category Archives: Books
Assembly Lines by Jane Commane: Reviewed
There is a very strong sense of place in this collection – almost enough to term it psychogeographical. The post-industrial landscape of the Midlands lingers on the fringes of most poems, taking centre stage for many. Commane sets out her stall strongly from the very start. The opening poem presents a gritty world with linesContinueContinue reading “Assembly Lines by Jane Commane: Reviewed”
Mountains of the Mind
Regular readers of this page will know I’m a huge fan of Robert MacFarlane, so I was really excited to get my hands on his first book. Although it’s a little more scientific in parts than I was expecting, it’s still filled with poetic descriptions and enlightening observations. The book opens with an anecdote aboutContinueContinue reading “Mountains of the Mind”
Milkman: A Review
I’d read a lot about this book before picking it up myself – that it was too obscure, too literary (since when has that become a bad thing?!?), so I was a little dubious before starting. I flicked through the first page before getting my hands on the whole book, and was instantly hooked. TheContinueContinue reading “Milkman: A Review”
Dostoyevsky Wannabes Cities: Bristol Review
If you’ve not yet encountered Dostoyevsky Wannabe, I’d highly recommend them. A small, independent press based in Manchester, they’re at the vanguard of accessible, innovative literature, producing work at a prolific rate (51 books in four years) One of their more popular projects is the Cities series, where they invite poets to collaborate to produceContinueContinue reading “Dostoyevsky Wannabes Cities: Bristol Review”
Allen Ginsberg – Howl: A Review
I’ve ALWAYS wanted to visit San Francisco, primarily because its synonymous with the Beat writers, who I was obsessed with as a teenager. Every year, I revisit Kerouac’s On The Road, but I realised it’s been a long time since I picked up Ginsberg’s Howl. Wondering if it still held the same magic to thirties meContinueContinue reading “Allen Ginsberg – Howl: A Review”
Lavinia Greenlaw: A World Where News Travelled Slowly
I recently listened to an old Scottish Poetry Library podcast with Lavinia Greenlaw (if you’ve never tuned in, you must. They really allow the poets to open up on their art and influences) and was really struck by the way she talked about growing up in Essex and the impact her scientific background has hadContinueContinue reading “Lavinia Greenlaw: A World Where News Travelled Slowly”
The Woman in the Window
I’m a sucker for a thriller I can devour in an afternoon, and from the back cover, this looked promising. With quotes of praise from Stephen King, Gillian Flynn and Val McDermid, my expectations were high. The opening chapter immediately intrigued. Developing in a manner similar to Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’, as the protagonist spies onContinueContinue reading “The Woman in the Window”
Parallax, Sinead Morrissey
Morrissey’s T.S.Eliot Prize-winning fifth collection is defined by the poet at the outset as Parallax (Astron.) Apparent displacement, or difference in the apparent position, of an object, caused by actual change (or difference) of position of the point of observation. It’s a collection about perception and paradoxes, opening with 1801, inspired by Dorothy Wordsworth’s ‘The GrasmereContinueContinue reading “Parallax, Sinead Morrissey”
Leontia Flynn: Profit and Loss
Leontia Flynn’s third collection was first published in 2011, but it’s taken a while for us to come into contact. In general, I try to avoid reviews of poetry collection before reading a book and in this case, I think it was a wise decision. Not because the reviews weren’t excellent – they were, mostContinueContinue reading “Leontia Flynn: Profit and Loss”
Nicola Heaney 