Poetry / poems by individual poets

Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisEvans' debut, Threads—a collaboration with photographer Justin David also published by Inkandescent—was longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. His follow-up bears the watermarks of someone who’s swum life’s emotional spectrum. Some poems barely contain their righteous anger within visceral verse – 'The old are eating the young / in great Goya gobfuls'. Others, such as What the Cat Dragged Back, examine subtler sentiments: in response to your partner picking up a lover for you to share, for instance – 'I rub damp fur, wondering / which disco dustbin / you picked this one up in / and how best to dispose of him'. Short and (bitter)sweet, this is poetry for a mobile generation, poetry for sharing – often humorous and always honest about contemporary human experience. Exploring issues such as climate crisis, Brexit, gentrification and the rise of populist politics, these poems say more in a few lines than politicians say in volumes and offer an antidote to modern living.Trade Review"Evans' poetry addresses vital issues of our time, such as the climate crisis, with biting wit, seething passion & electrifying skill" – Matthew Todd, author of Straight Jacket & Pride; "Story weaving and poetically burrowing, CNUT is a universal backyard collection of the urban/urbane reimagined, of the domestic/fantastic retold, of the ravishingly re-readable" – Gerry Potter; "CNUT is a kaleidoscopic journey through shifting landscapes, brimming with vivid imagery, playfulness and warmth. A truly powerful work!" – Keith Jarrett

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Book SynopsisWelcome to Deception Island, a tiny Volcanic caldera in the Antarctic Ocean. Here the rusting remains of industrial whaling and a seabed littered with whalebones testify to mankind’s greed and brutality. But the island is also an outpost of scientific exploration, witness to human attentiveness and fortitude.As the ship carrying the author’s father edges through the basalt cliffs into the calmer waters of Deception Island, the island’s many voices, human and non-human, begin to speak.

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Book SynopsisEurope, Love Me Back is a collection of relentlessly questing, sharply satirical poems about the continent, and the poet’s fraught relationship with it. Hurting yet clear-eyed, Rizwan explores and exposes what it means to be a small brown woman in Dutch suburbs, hospitals and academia. This is an angry love letter, to a place left behind yet always there, continuing to matter and hurt and shape the poet’s identity.Trade Review‘A striking debut collection which evokes the rich culture and history of Rizwan’s native Lahore. Themes of belonging, migration and displacement abound, as Rizwan examines the split linguistic self of the migrant. Combining free verse and complex ghazals, this is a powerful exploration of the role of women in Pakistan and beyond.’ - Poetry Book Society

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Book SynopsisRehema Njambi unpacks identity, faith, womanhood and – above all – agency, in poems partly inspired by conversations with the Black, mostly African, women around her. Imbued with quiet resistance to patriarchal societies, Njambi's debut collection is an ode to the women who have raised her, and their strength and their ability to hold, sustain, and be rooted in their faith. The poems resound with their idea of home, and belonging they wish to pass on to their daughters.GHOSTS IN THIS HOUSEThere were footsteps in the dark all night,almost every night, and we were scared — but we didn’t say a thing.She called us to prayer in the morning, every morning.With our small hands and smaller faithwe asked the Lord for protection —but He didn’t say a thing.

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Book SynopsisIn her debut pamphlet, Lisabelle Tay leads the reader down through the underworlds of illness, motherhood and family histories. Lighting the way with her poems, the poet draws on Celtic, Classical and Chinese mythologies, appealing to the selkie, Eurydice, and Chang'e in turn as she seeks a path through the darkness – and back to the light. Pilgrim depicts a journey and a return, moving from the expansive and mythological to the inward and personal. The pilgrim who left is not the pilgrim who returns.Trade Review‘Reading Pilgrim was not like reading your average poetry pamphlet [...]. The (reading) adventure continues. I am disorientated. And what I enjoy in that sensation is the pleasure of experiencing something different.’ Charlotte Gann, Sphinx Review.Table of ContentsWhat it means to wane Pilgrim List of Things Beyond My Bedroom Curtains After Selkie The Lioness Lunar gossip Letter to Orpheus Sir Gawain in the forest Reaper’s Pantun Thus came the mollusk god Beneath the eyelids of morning Paladin Water Children Goldflower’s Brother Stigmata Acropolis at Mid-Season Letter to my son

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Book SynopsisStep into Pearl’s world and take a tour around her faded seaside town, past the graffiti walls, bus stops and the old mattress factory. Except – with Pearl as our guide – the colours suddenly pop and every tiny detail becomes rich with interest. From the lido to the hair salon, to the Christmas shop in June, the ordinary becomes magical and every bit of wildness, weirdness and tattiness is whisked into the foreground. "Pearl" is an alter ego of the poet: she's a character who observes the minutiae around her and whose thoughts are a pleasure to follow. This pamphlet follows Pearl as she rollicks around, making her way through a townscape similar but not identical to the too-small-to-be-cities of poet Julia Bird's 70s & 80s childhood. from 'Clementine Pearl'The first time was a fluke. Subsequently, Pearl made plans to visit the Christmas shop at the edge of town every twenty-fifth of June; a day when even if it isn’t hot, it’s light, the day most likely the shop’s most empty of people wanting winter or its antimatter to take into their homes.

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