A Method, A Path (Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, Forward Prize 2023, Shortlisted)

The Felix Dennis shortlist is drawn from first collections, previous winners include Don Paterson, Simon Armitage, Liz Berry, and Rachael Boast. What, therefore, does Rowan Evans’ first collection offer which might see the poet follow in those auspicious footprints?

The collection’s title ‘A Method, A Path’ possibly identifies its own manifesto; themes are sometimes explored across connected sequences where each poem proposes new forms with new rules….

Sonnets for Albert (Shortlisted, Forward Prize for Best Collection)

The sonnet is a design classic; it retains its formal appeal, with contemporary giants such as Don Paterson and Imtiaz Dharker regularly inspired by its elegance and infinite variety. Trinidadian poet Anthony Joseph has used the form to explore his relationship with his father and with himself across a sequence of more than 50 poems.

WAYPOINTS: SEASCAPES AND STORIES OF SCOTLAND’S WEST COAST

There are certain realities accessible only to a handful of people. Across 300 pages this book takes the reader to the unique reality of Scotland’s West Coast and offers a detailed account of life and culture in the region. However, as every reality, it’s not for everyone.  Ian Stephen comes from the Isle of Lewis Read More

LINCOLN IN THE BARDO (WINNER, THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017)

A Google search will inform curious readers that the word ‘’bardo’’ references an old Tibetan legend: souls making the transition from death to Nirvana, or, if they are less fortunate, to begin again in a new body, must first pass through the bardo. Think of it as a stopping station between different states of existence Read More

Death on Earth: adventures in evolution and mortality

Death is an important subject in biology.  After all, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace independently arrived at the concept of natural selection by contemplating death.  After reading Thomas Malthus’s notorious Essay on Population, they realised that, unchecked by death, the ability of living things to reproduce would quickly result in astronomical numbers of every Read More

The Improbability of Love

There are two major problems with The Improbability of Love. The first is that it’s just too long and the second is that it’s dull. The large cast of characters and their sub-plots are exhausting. There is an ensemble cast of at least eighteen different characters, each with a section dedicated to their point of Read More