Black Country

£12.99

Liz Berry

Liz Berry takes us home: to Wrens Nest, Gosty Hill, Bilston; to the summer where she first learned to talk; to the woods where the secrets are hidden. A parade of riotous characters abound: the Bone Orchard Wench, the Lady Rotcatcher, Carmella ‘Ower Lady of the Hairdresser’. But her poems also transport us into other, different worlds of the poet’s imagination: the memories and magic of childhood to the dawning of adulthood and the dark, sweet mysteries of love and sexuality.

In stock

SKU: 9780701188573 Category: Tag:

Description

WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2014

*PBS Recommendation 2014*

‘When I became a bird, Lord, nothing could not stop me?’

In Black Country, Liz Berry takes flight: to Wrens Nest, Gosty Hill, Tipton-on-Cut; to the places of home. The poems move from the magic of childhood – bostin fittle at Nanny’s, summers before school – into deeper, darker territory: sensual love, enchanted weddings, and the promise of new life.

In Berry’s hands, the ordinary is transformed: her characters shift shapes, her eye is unusual, her ear attuned to the sounds of the Black Country, with ‘vowels ferrous as nails, consonants / you could lick the coal from.’ Ablaze with energy and full of the rich dialect of the West Midlands, this is an incandescent debut from a poet of dazzling talent and verve.

Additional information

Weight 90 g
Dimensions 21.6 × 13.5 × 0.6 cm
Author

Publisher

Chatto & Windus

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

60

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

821.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K