Helen Farish(Bloodaxe Books, 2024); pbk, £12.00 The Penny Dropping is a compelling narrative-driven poetry collection telling the story of a relationship from beginning to end. This is Helen Farish’s fourth collection of poetry. Previously, Farish has won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and this is the second time her work has been shortlisted Read More
Katrina Porteous(Bloodaxe, 2024); pbk, £12.99 A poetry collection, if it is to be successful, should offer the reader a ‘way in’, regardless of its tone, form or subject matter. Sometimes, the latter is the biggest obstacle; poets often write of places and experiences that are personal to them, or share insights relating to often complex 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
A title like ‘The brain of the rat in stereotaxic space’ makes a bold opening gambit. The reviewer is aware the poet has had a past career in toymaking and is soon alert to the intricate care inherent in the constructing of these poems; a planning, an almost archaeologically labelled or museum-catalogued craft. These impressively, formally varied poems is precision-assembled, and there is something in each—be they sonnets, sets of sestets, runes, guitar chords, or even a tightly metrical poem where only one of its 33 lines and title does not end on the name ‘Rosemarie’— which tells of meticulous planning, exacting execution and a mesmerising, unrelentingly creative mind….
This is Jane Clarke’s third poetry collection. Her previous work has been nominated for several poetry prizes, including being shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize, awarded for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry evoking the spirit of a place. The latest collection certainly does that….
On opening, Philip Gross’s book immediately engages with its fragmented poetry layout. ‘Nocturne: The Information’ gifts the reader stanzas which are chopped up, seemingly disjointed on the page. Structure supports content, the corrugated stanzas echoing the front cover’s Blade Runner-esque landscape of blinking lights:
In her second full-length poetry collection, Claire Askew searches for security and self-assurance within a heavily patriarchal world where institutional power reigns over individuals. Here is fiery free verse that captures beautifully the uneven forces of female empowerment and misogyny. The resolution to this tension is searched for through deftly poetic explorations of dysfunctional relationships, exploitation of the natural world, and interpretations of Salem witch trials.
Our conversation has covered a variety of topics and his interest in life is both present and contagious. It is quite clear André is a man with a thirst for knowledge, which brings me to ask him why use poetry as your main vehicle to navigate such terrain? He answers succinctly, ‘I have an axe to grind.’ That is followed by his infectious laughter. He elaborates by referring to the Chilean poet, Nicanor Parra whom André tells me once said, ‘a poet should be a thorn in society’s side’. This resonated with him in his teens.
If ever a book wears its scholarly research as a jolly cloak, then it is The Voyage of St Brendan. When A.B. Jackson reaches the final page of his post-collection notes, he quotes George Mackay Brown’s play The Voyage of St Brandon: ‘Imagine, say, a couple of country children on a roadside on a spring day. Tell the story of the voyage as if it was for their ears only.’ Jackson finishes his book, responding to that urging with ‘ It is advice I have kept in mind for my own version’.