Janet Sutherland (Shearsman Books, 2023); pbk: £16.95 Janet Sutherland is a British poet and a co-founder of the Needlewriters cooperative. In this her fifth collection from Shearsman Books, The Messenger House, she aims to better understand societies on local and global levels, and `why things happened as they did`. This book was created based on Read More
Jessica Widner (The 87 press, 2022); pbk: £14,99 Jessica Widner is an author, and scholar from the University of Edinburgh. Her debut novel, Interiors has been featured in such publications as Extra Teeth, Gutter, and The Cardiff Review. Owen Beausoleil, a poet, is found drowned; three people are haunted by his tragic death: Noah Lang, Read More
Eithne Hand (Salmon Poetry, 2020); pbk: €12,00 Wherever your political inclinations, in the aftermath of the UK’s most recent election, it’s likely we can agree that we have all endured a certain amount of tired, repetitive debate. In poetry, probably, there are parallels in the regularly trundled out arguments polarising page and stage, discussions which Read More
K Patrick (Granta Poetry, 2024); pbk: £12.99 Scottish writer K Patrick is having a moment. Their debut novel, Mrs S (4th Estate, 2023) earned them a place on the Observer Best Debut Novelists list as well as the Granta best Young British Novelists in 2023. 2024 sees their debut poetry collection come hot on its heels Read More
Giacomo Abbruzzese (dir) It has been a long time since I have been so impressed by any film. I initially attended Disco Boy at the DCA because of Franz Rogowski playing a Belarussian ex-con Alexei, but I ended up leaving the cinema in admiration of Giacomo Abbruzzese’s talent. Within the first few minutes of the Read More
Clare Best (Waterloo Press, 2019); pbk: £12 In her own life, Clare Best has packed in more challenging experiences than she might have chosen to invite. Welcomed or not, she has faced her trials with extraordinary courage and an important creative verve. Most famously, her approach to her ‘experience of family breast cancer and risk-reducing surgery’ Read More
Liam Guilar(Shearsman Books, 2023); pbk £14.95 History is a record of brutalitytempered by outbursts of idealism (‘Maxim 1’) Liam Guilar’s A Man of Heart transforms historical record into contemporary poetry, unearthing narratives of 5th-century Britain by blending reimagination with realism. His compelling sequel to A Presentment of Englishry continues his poetic retelling of the Read More
Sarah James(Verve Poetry Press, 2022); pbk, £10.99 Thoughtful and haunted, Sarah James’s recent poetry collection, Blood Sugar, Sex, Magic was shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award 2023. It is a playful, biting, and introspective look at life with type one diabetes. James’ skilfully employs both conventional and experimental styles, with page layout and lineation Read More
MacGillivrayBloodaxe (2023)Pbk:£14.99 my real marks…I hide beneath my overcoat, trace the seams of its rough-sewn darts: skins shield, sweats salt, but anatomies of sorrow, only death reveals. (Celestial Metre: Wounded Centaur Hexameter) In July 2022, MacGillivray (‘matrilineal Highland pen-name of writer, artist and musician Kirsten Norrie’) interred family ashes in the clan enclave on Read More
Marjorie Lotfi(Bloodaxe Books, 2023); pbk, £10.99 Majorie Lotfi was born in the United States and moved to Tehran as a child, and then back to her American mother’s hometown of Ohio on the cusp of the Iran Revolution. Currently living in Edinburgh, she seems to have moved around a fair bit. This debut title comes Read More