Poetry review – SUNBATHING WITH FISHERMEN: Emma Storr admires the strength of feeling in Penny Sharman’s poems whether they are dealing with pain and loss or joy and pleasure
books
Poetry review – SELECTED POEMS: Paul McDonald enjoys a well-chosen and well-arranged selection of Maurice Riordan’s work
Poetry review – NOT MY BEST SIDE: John Forth admires this new selection of U A Fanthorpe’s poetry for its laconic and compassionate voice and its comic precision
Poetry review – THE MAYDAY DIARIES: D A Prince admires Robin Houghton’s wide-ranging collection which succeeds in mixing the personal with the political
Poetry review – THE COLOUR OF RAIN: Pat Edwards finds her imagination stirred by the poems in Susan Utting’s new collection
Poetry review – TOOK MY WAY DOWN, LIKE A MESSENGER, TO THE DEEP: Edmund Prestwich admires the intricacy of Linda France’s sonnet sequence linking the paintings of Leonora Carrington with the experience of lockdown
Poetry review – VELVEL’S VIOLIN: Wendy Klein reviews a collection by Jacqueline Saphra whose themes have acquired even more depth and significance in light of post-publication events
Poetry review – ON BALANCE: Sultana Raza is intrigued by the underlying threads and themes in this short collection by John Harvey
Poetry review – SIXTY POEMS: Rennie Halstead commends the diversity and range of Paul McDonald’s poetry
Poetry review – HOLLYWOOD OR HOME: Charles Rammelkamp enjoys Kathryn Gray’s excursions into the illusory world of film where the past seems to be preserved even as time moves on for the rest of us.
Poetry review – HALF OTHER: Emma Storr admires an extraordinary account of the joys and sorrows of twinship by Peter Wallis
Poetry Review – WHEREOF: Jennifer Johnson discovers what she thinks about the philosophical poetry of Christopher Norris
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • added recently on London Grip, books, poetry reviews, year 2026 • Tags: books, Jennifer Johnson, poetry