Poetry. Tom Pickard's poems are by turns erotic and political, pastoral and urban, and make use of everyday speech with formal inventiveness and sophistication. Since High On the Walls (1967), he has written six books of poetry, and this career-spanning volume is his first in America. "Song sings itself in these poems. Their heart is clarity, spoken. Why shouldn't the music lead and the heart follow—and mind be the wonder of their witness? This is a great poetry made of such common life, each word a step along the way"—Robert Creeley. With collages by Tom Raworth.

Author City: LONDON UK

Tom Pickard, a Newcastle-born writer who left school at 14 and fell swiftly under the spell of American Beat poetry and poets, was not only present at the birth of the British Poetry Revival in 1965 but also is credited with leading the charge. He is the author of nine books of poetry spanning four decades. In addition, he has made several documentaries, including We Make Ships (1988) about labor history in the north of England and Birmingham is What I Think With (1991) about the poet Roy Fisher. His many books include MORE PRICKS THAN PRIZES (Pressed Wafer, 2010), BALLAD OF JAMIE ALLAN (Flood Editions, 2007), THE DARK MONTHS OF MAY (Flood Edtions, 2004), HOLE IN THE WALL: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS (Flood Editions, 2002), and FUCKWIND (Etruscan Books, 1999).

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author page @ The Poetry Foundation