From The Neanderthal

The poems in Adam Thorpe's latest collection are concerned with the continuum between two worlds: the lived present and the felt past. With the attentive care of an archaeologist he uncovers and examines fragments - from a personal history or the historic past - and rebuilds the narrative: a fossil in Hitler's stadium, a wedding photograph, marks on the wall where an eighteenth-century priest was shot. With formal dexterity and rhythmic assurance, these versatile, subtle poems investigate the vertiginous dynamic of history - where a shard of stone stands for civilisation, where a silver of memory becomes a life re-lived. After nine years, during which time he has emerged as one of Britain's most powerful and innovative novelists, Adam Thorpe now returns - triumphantly - to poetry.

The poems in Adam Thorpe's latest collection are concerned with the continuum between two worlds: the lived present and the felt past. With the attentive care of an archaeologist he uncovers and examines fragments - from a personal history or the historic past - and rebuilds the narrative: a fossil in Hitler's stadium, a wedding photograph, marks on the wall where an eighteenth-century priest was shot. With formal dexterity and rhythmic assurance, these versatile, subtle poems investigate the vertiginous dynamic of history - where a shard of stone stands for civilisation, where a silver of memory becomes a life re-lived. After nine years, during which time he has emerged as one of Britain's most powerful and innovative novelists, Adam Thorpe now returns - triumphantly - to poetry.

Auteur

Adam Thorpe was born in Paris in 1956. His first novel, Ulverton, appeared in 1992, and he has published two books of stories, six poetry collections, and nine further novels, most recently Flight (2012).

www.adamthorpe.net

Texte du rabat

'A writer with exceptional gifts.'
Peter Kemp, Sunday Times

'Verve and intelligence... a beauty of feeling and language.'
Douglas Dunn, Evening Standard

'Excellent... Thorpe's poems are finely scored for the voice, but they go beyond the recognisable into the mystical.'
Peter Porter, Observer

'Erudite, observant, an artist with the language.'
Martyn Crucefix, Poetry Review

'Adam Thorpe's photographic accuracy of observation is so beautifully fitted to his accuracy of feeling that his poems seem to have a natural grace and effortless success. Such craftsmanship is rare in contemporary writing, and the sensibility is unique.'
Guy Davenport

'A poet of considerable repute.'
Nicola Barker, Observer

'It's hard to imagine greater skill or concision... There are never going to be many poets in any generation who leave you strapped for superlatives; excitingly, Thorpe is one of them.'
Robert Ports, Literary Review