poetry

P.W. Bridgman sums up Gary Allen’s powerful book-length poem as “a jagged lament for a despoiled Eden that never was”

Emma Lee dips into a collection of gentle and reflective poems by Bethany Rivers

Kate Noakes considers Jane Clarke’s new pamphlet in which she takes on the challenging task of writing war-related poetry

Wendy French ponders over the questions raised by a new chapbook from Sophie Essex

Pam Thompson considers in depth a collection by Janet Sutherland which uses personal recollection as a starting point for dealing with wider issues.

John Forth finds that – among its many other achievements – Ann Drysdale’s poetry nearly always cheers him up

David Cooke considers Jenny Lewis’s important new version of the Gilgamesh epic

Wendy French dips into a promising first collection by Sue Burge

D A Prince praises a new collection by Kate Noakes which deals with dislocation and survival

Nick Cooke finds honesty and authenticity in a debut collection by Ian Humphreys

Nicholas Bielby seeks to do justice to the scale of this major collection by W D Jackson

Thomas Ovans enjoys Neil Fulwood’s eloquently forthright poetic opinions about the state we’re in