Poetry review – ALICE AND THE NORTH : Maggie Butt finds vibrant honesty in Anne Caldwell’s prose-poem sequence
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Poetry review – SMOKING OPIUM IN MOSCOW: James Roderick Burns admires Roger Caldwell’s use of poetry to delineate and then demolish a number of illusions cherished by western culture
Poetry review – ALPHA: D A Prince follows Mike Di Placido’s poetic musings on not being unusually heroic
Poetry review – LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I SAW: Ruth Valentine reviews a well-made selection of Adnan Al-Sayegh’s vivid and disturbing poetry
Poetry review – WEST SOUTH NORTH NORTH SOUTH EAST: Mat Riches navigates a sometimes disturbing and frequently sensual collection by Daniel Bennett
Every Christmas, London’s Old Vic delivers a production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This year is no exception – except that it comes to us via Zoom.
Poetry review – THE PEREGRINE FALCONS OF YORK MINSTER: Alwyn Marriage finds a “delicious mixture of humour and pathos” in Carole Bromley’s collection
Poetry review- JANUARY: Emma Storr enjoys a varied and accessible first collection by Sarah Barr
C.J. Cooke, also known as Carolyn Jess-Cooke, is formidable in her achievements. An award-winning poet, novelist, academic and mother of four, her latest work is a text-book example for her creative writing students of how to write a tense page-turner that presses all the right buttons.
Poetry review – FARMERS, QUEENS, TRAINS AND CLOWNS : Charles Rammelkamp finds both lament and celebration in a character-filled collection by g emil reutter
Poetry review – translating silence : Mat Riches admires the consistent and creative evocation of silence in a chapbook by Mike Barlow
Poetry review – CALL AND RESPONSE : Alex Josephy reviews a sonnet sequence by Rachel Spence which deals sensitively with a mother-daughter relationship during illness
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • books, poetry reviews, year 2021 • Tags: Alex Josephy, books, poetry