Women like me do not know how to speak. A word remains in their throats like a thorn they choose to swallow. Choose to swallow. In this first translation of her work into English, Syrian-born poet Maram Al-Massri confesses her secrets to us. Al-Massri is a woman stuck. Stuck between Arab tradition and modern femininity. Read More
Con-men, poker-players, poets put the solid world at risk and then enjoy the dance… (“The Water Magician of San Diego”) Elaine Feinstein — poet, novelist, playwright, biographer and translator—has selected poems for The Clinic, Memory from twelve collections written over five decades which, alongside newly-written poems; these do indeed “put the solid world at risk”. Read More
Works of literature allow readers to escape to any location in the world and to any era in history, an idea put to work in Geraldine Clarkson’s latest collection, Declare in which she depicts unfamiliar locations in enthralling ways. Clarkson’s aptitude has already been acknowledged: she has won several poetry awards and most notably has Read More
I’m a poet who loves words loves people And believes some things Are worth getting angry about [.] Steve Pottinger, in his own words, is an angry poet. If you like your poetry with a cup of tea and a biscuit, look elsewhere. His latest collection, “more bees bigger bonnets” will shout at you, confront Read More
And the thing about repression is if you dam the waters long enough, when they break get ready for floods. (“Clarification”) Fanning through Paula Varjack’s collection, Letters I Never Sent to You, two features imprint on the brain. The first is a photograph (the only one in the collection) of a clumsy heart mown into Read More
Over the last four decades Valerie Gillies has truly inhabited the Scottish and Irish landscapes; she draws from them a perpetual source of sustenance for her work. “The Cream of the Well” refers to the first sip taken at sunrise that was believed to have healing properties – a mystical quality which has a strong Read More
A common thread can make a poetry collection form a cohesive whole from the most diverse of parts. When reading Kerrie O’Brien’s first collection Illuminate, it is clear that the connecting thread is the poet herself. She offers the paradox of a youthful maturity. There are wise insights, creating poetry which is both visually and Read More
Against the Light is Stewart Conn’s latest poetry collection. He has won prizes such as Poetry Book Society Choice and SMIT Scottish Poetry Book of the Year Prize among many others. It has three sections, reminding me of a triptych; each of the sections focuses on different themes but together they form a strong collection. Read More
Jimi Hendrix’s melodies merge with the symphonies of George Frideric Handel; an ode to “philosophical couch Platos” resides snugly amongst verse confronting Western imperialism. Unconventional? Indeed – Agard dances between the light and the dark of the human condition throughout Travel Light, Travel Dark, his mischievous ingenuity shining throughout. Split into four sections, this collection Read More
This crashes around the skull. It whispers and it wails. It is the sound we hear when the space around us is silent. Recently shortlisted for the Ted Hughes award, Zoë Skoulding’s The Museum of Disappearing Sounds explores the notion of sound as a codependent relationship between a reader’s external and internal ear. The Museum Read More