The North recommends: Poetry Book Society
Every quarter the Poetry Book Society celebrates the best new contemporary poetry books. This month marks the launch of our new look Bulletin featuring more poems and unique commentary from major international poets, including a new Guest Selection by the poet Andrew McMillan who featured at New Writing North’s Durham Book Festival. It’s a pleasure to share our favourite recent poetry books with New Writing North readers.
Here are a few of our Northern highlights:
Featuring over fifty poets, this raucous pub crawl through poetry is the perfect companion for the next trip to your local, including anecdotes of last orders, glass-half-full poems and regulars reminiscing about their favourite haunts. Compiled by two Northern treasures, this is a charming collection to delve into, whatever your poetic poison.
The Mighty Stream: Poems in Celebration of Martin Luther King – Edited by Carolyn Forche and Jackie Kay (Bloodaxe)
Tying in with Newcastle’s Freedom City 2017, this collection commemorates Dr Martin Luther King, Jr’s visit to the city in 1967 when he was awarded an honorary degree at Newcastle University. Featuring over eighty poets, this is an urgent and necessary collection.
Poetry Book Society Winter Pamphlet Choice: Ruth McIlroy – Guppy Primer (Smith | Doorstop)
Yorkshire based Ruth McIlroy offers a comic and vibrant array of poems, published by Sheffield based publishers Smith | Doorstop. Often writing in Scots Gaelic she explores the wide-ranging variety of language. As PBS Pamphlet Selector Denise Saul described, these are ‘irresistible poems full of warmth and humour’.
More Poetry Book Society Winter Highlights:
PBS Choice: Sasha Dugdale – Joy (Carcanet)
This joyous collection by a Forward Prize winning poet and translator gives voice to Catherine Blake, the wife of William Blake. Joy also explores the role of women in wartime and the difficulty of writing itself in these turbulent times.
PBS Recommendations: Ahren Warner – Hello, Your Promise has been Extracted (Bloodaxe)
An extraordinary, erudite and experimental poetry book by the Eric Gregory award-winning Editor of Poetry London. Accompanied by the poet’s own photographs, these words and images powerfully intercept one another.
Anne Michaels – All We Saw (Bloomsbury)
A striking collection of philosophical, liminal and minimal works of pure beauty by the Canadian poet Anne Michaels. These are luminous and elusive pieces which reveal the world anew: ‘Do you see how the dusk and rain are one?’
Special Poetry Book Society Offer
Why not give the gift of poetry this Christmas with PBS Gift Membership? Every quarter our members receive the best new poetry books and our poetry magazine, the PBS Bulletin, delivered straight to their door. We’re also offering New Writing North eletter readers 10% off all of the books above. Simply follow the links and enter the code NWN at the checkout.
To find out more about PBS, click here.