Book Reviews

A section taken from the front cover, parts of the words "The" and "Arctic3 can be seen. Th cover is brown with cream text. What can you do?

Hanging onto Tam Lin in The Arctic

Helena Nelson reviews The Arctic by Don Paterson (Faber, 2022)

This is a dark book cover (could have guessed really, "Mouth of Shadows" and all that). The image looks like the inside of a cave (think "Lord of the Rings") a light comes from above and throws a circular glow on the floor.

Murderous parrots eat souls

Richie McCaffery reviews Mouth of Shadows by Tim Murphy (SurVision Books, 2022)

Portion of a book cover. It has a dark red background with parts of the words The and Red shown.

Schist and quartz and sparks of mica

Hilary Menos reviews The Red House by Sharon Black (Drunk Muse Press, 2022)

An abstract image (yes, yet another poetry book cover featuring an abstract image ... sigh) showing what looks like various shades of light to mid blue water clolour paint daubed in a swirly pattern on a light blue background.

Let the morbid fancy roam

Rory Waterman reviews Donald Davie, Selected Poems, ed. Sinéad Morrissey (Carcanet, 2022)

Some part words in yellow font on a green background. Basically, the cover of this book is yellow text on a green background, so to make it look just a little bit more interesting for the front page I have zoomed right in and cropped the image. Voilà.

Something beginning with earth

Maggie Mackay reviews Desperate Fishwives by Lindsay Macgregor (Molecular Press, Geneva, 2022)

Partial book cover photograph showing a city at night from above. Traffic and lights can be seen, and a flyover. Black, grey and red are the main colours.

A change in the momentum of the world

Victoria Moul reviews The Thirteenth Angel by Philip Gross (Bloodaxe, 2022)

What looks like a Japanese wood cut showing four warriors in black and white.

In the Light of Rocket Flares

Maryann Corbett reviews 'One Hundred Visions of War', a translation by Alfred Nicol of 'Cent Visions de Guerre' by Julien Vocance (Wiseblood Books, 2022)

A photograph showing an open hand with some dried flowers on it. The background is pink

Trains necklacing the night

Mat Riches reviews Climacteric by Jo Bratten (Fly On The Wall Press, 2022)

Old copperplate writing on a white background.

Murders, thefts and debts, quarrels and ‘domestics’

Jane Routh reviews Testimonies by Hamish Whyte (HappenStance Press, 2022)

Close up graphic of a green leaf. It is partially transparent on a white background, and the veins running through the leaf are clearly visible.

Drawing the clean light in and doing good

Annie Fisher reviews The Bigger Picture by D. A. Prince (HappenStance, 2022)

Appears to be a watercolour painting in a block graphic style representing sea in the foreground and a sandy seashore behind. The whole thing has a slightly swirly pattern visible. A bit like the circle marks on an artex ceiling, but more artistic.

The wonders this lens can do!

Steven Lovatt reviews Ferenc Juhász: Selected Poems translated by David Wevill (Shearsman, 2022)

Photograph of what looks like a goalpost at dusk. Its hard to tell though, it could be a large staple superimposed on a landscape background.

A good flow is like a fossil / it preserves the time

Bruno Cooke reviews The Lost Chronicle by Polarbear (Bloomsbury, 2022)