Colin Simms: Otters and Martens
Published August 2004
Paperback, 164pp, 9x6ins, £9.95 / $17
ISBN 9780907562507
Simms' first major British collection in some years, and his largest-ever book, this volume unites all of his poems that concern or revolve around otters and martens, poems in which his concerns as a poet fuse with those of the naturalist that he also is. For lovers of poetry and mustelidae alike.
"Simms' ancestor, poetically, is Basil Bunting, for whom the sound of the poem was also important. But I think that Simms' other ancestors are the millions of people over the years who've lived in the country alongside otters and martens and who've described them to each other with no thought of creating poetry from them, and maybe that's Simms' greatest achievement: he gives the language of nature back to those who created it, in woods and hillsides as they struggled to articulate what they'd seen.
Download a sampler PDF of work from this book here
"Simms's ancestor, poetically, is Basil Bunting, for whom the sound of the poem was also important. But I think that Simms's other ancestors are the millions of people over the years who've lived in the country alongside otters and martens and who've described them to each other with no thought of creating poetry from them, and maybe that's Simms's greatest achievement: he gives the language of nature back to those who created it in woods and hill-sides as they struggled to articulate what they'd seen . . . Colin Simms isn't an easy poet, but I think he's a major one, and I recommend this book absolutely." (Ian McMillan, Yorkshire Post)
"The poet-naturalist, Colin Simms, the heir to his mentor Basil Bunting's high modernist poetry and high-fell walking, has spent fifty years writing and rewriting about [the] bond the watcher has with a landscape. His latest collection carries a quiet moral authority . . . is lyrically potent, yet is only given voice 'under the breath' and 'mutters'." (Leo Mellor, Times Literary Supplement)
"Wildlife enthusiasts should enjoy the tales and descriptions in this book and it might even give them a taste for strongly crafted wordwise poetry. At the same time, poetry-lovers might find in this book an insight into the fascinating world of these creatures. It is a book ready to delight both sets of readers." (Gerald England, NHI Review)
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