Poetry review – BURNTISLAND: Colin Pink reviews a collection in which Ian Farnes reflects on the history of his own small home town
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Poetry review – BEAUTY & ASHES: Nancy Murphy admires Karen Warinsky’s poems both for their honesty and for their hopefulness
THE KAFKA STUDIES DEPARTMENT: Charles Rammelkamp discovers that Francis Levy’s generally bleak story lines can provoke a surprising amount of laughter
THE RESEMBLANCE OF ALL THINGS: Michael Bartholomew-Biggs grapples with Bernard J Lurie’s ambitiously conceived long poem which speculates on the fundamentals of creation
IT ALL FELT IMPOSSIBLE: Charles Rammelkamp follows Tom McAllister’s life story as summarized in a sequence of 42 essays
Poetry review – FANCY THAT AND OTHER POEMS: Chris Beckett clearly enjoys the light-hearted sexual frankness in John Dixon’s poems but finds serious insights as well
Books of Hours, Books of Hope. Review by Barbara Lewis. If, like me, you need a reminder of the definition, a book of hours is a devotional manual designed for personal prayer.
A PHYSICAL EDUCATION: John Lucas considers Jonathan Taylor’s perceptive and accessible discussion of the causes and consequences of authorised cruelty in schools and beyond
Poetry review – AGAINST THE STREAM: Andrew Keanie considers a comprehensive selection of Gary Allen’s poetry and sets it in the context of Northern Ireland’s troubled history
Poetry review – REAL LEAR: Jennifer Johnson admires the wit and originality on display in this New & Selected from Claire Crowther
Poetry review – IN THE HERE AND NOW: D A Prince commends the craft and wide range displayed in Janet Montefiore’s selected poems
Poetry review – THE BLUE ARMCHAIR: Jennifer Johnson is impressed by the subtlety and careful attention to detail in this collection by John Froy
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • books, poetry reviews, year 2025 • Tags: books, Jennifer Johnson, poetry