Shearsman Books

Paperback, 80pp, 8x5ins, £8.95 / $15
ISBN 9781905700615

About Seahorses:

"I like my poems to get to the point, be direct, but in an unusual, indirect way. Glimpses of dreams, lovers, sickness, grief—strange portraits and incidents. Succinct, neat, precise. Cutting things away, shearing images, keeping words to a minimum—hopefully elaborate, sharp, funny and poignant—with the aloud sound of the poem intrinsic to the form. The resulting poems incisive, honest and humorous.
     My first collection is a camera of twelve years, cataloguing quirky characters and events, family, relationships, death, the world, comets and beyond.
     I chose not to organise the work chronologically or keep to a narrative arc, instead opting for a similar feel, poems which suited each other's company, complimenting each other. There is a narrative flow, but it isn't a deliberate or forced one. The poems speak and unfold together very naturally.
     I found making choices for the book very rewarding and challenging. The process became a bit like making a music compilation CD for a friend, one poem informing its successor, fitting together, progressing like songs, like sounds. Working through various broad themes and finishing at the coast, near the North Sea. A fitting place since that's where I grew up and, to a great extent, still feel I belong. The river Tay recurring.

     My poems are very visual, almost painted, capturing my views, emotions and inner world obliquely. The resulting collection is a very personal take." —Hazel Frew

Download a sampler PDF of work from this book here

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