The Blind Roadmaker
If the starting point for a number of poems in Ian Duhig's richly varied new collection is Sterne's Tristram Shandy, its presiding genius is the great 18th-century civil engineer, fiddler, and polymath Blind Jack Metcalf—whose life Duhig here celebrates, and from whose example he draws great inspiration. Writing with an almost Burnsian eclecticism, Duhig explores urban poverty, determinism, social justice, and the consolations of poetry and music on a journey that takes in everything from a riotous reimagining of Don Juan to the tragedy of Manuel Bravo (the Leeds asylum seeker from Angola who was forced to defend himself in court, and later took his own life). No poet today writes with such a sense of political and social conscience, and The Blind Roadmaker affirms Duhig's belief in poetry as a means of commemorating those who least deserve to be forgotten.
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The Blind Roadmaker
If the starting point for a number of poems in Ian Duhig's richly varied new collection is Sterne's Tristram Shandy, its presiding genius is the great 18th-century civil engineer, fiddler, and polymath Blind Jack Metcalf—whose life Duhig here celebrates, and from whose example he draws great inspiration. Writing with an almost Burnsian eclecticism, Duhig explores urban poverty, determinism, social justice, and the consolations of poetry and music on a journey that takes in everything from a riotous reimagining of Don Juan to the tragedy of Manuel Bravo (the Leeds asylum seeker from Angola who was forced to defend himself in court, and later took his own life). No poet today writes with such a sense of political and social conscience, and The Blind Roadmaker affirms Duhig's belief in poetry as a means of commemorating those who least deserve to be forgotten.
17.95 In Stock
The Blind Roadmaker

The Blind Roadmaker

by Ian Duhig
The Blind Roadmaker

The Blind Roadmaker

by Ian Duhig

Paperback

$17.95 
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Overview

If the starting point for a number of poems in Ian Duhig's richly varied new collection is Sterne's Tristram Shandy, its presiding genius is the great 18th-century civil engineer, fiddler, and polymath Blind Jack Metcalf—whose life Duhig here celebrates, and from whose example he draws great inspiration. Writing with an almost Burnsian eclecticism, Duhig explores urban poverty, determinism, social justice, and the consolations of poetry and music on a journey that takes in everything from a riotous reimagining of Don Juan to the tragedy of Manuel Bravo (the Leeds asylum seeker from Angola who was forced to defend himself in court, and later took his own life). No poet today writes with such a sense of political and social conscience, and The Blind Roadmaker affirms Duhig's belief in poetry as a means of commemorating those who least deserve to be forgotten.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781509809813
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Publication date: 05/01/2016
Pages: 80
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Ian Duhig won the National Poetry Competition twice, in 1987 and 2001, and the Forward Prize for Best Poem in 2001. Named as one of the Poetry Book Society's New Generation poets, his work has also been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize.

Table of Contents

Half the Story 1

The Blue Queen of Ashtrayland 2

Blockbusters 4

The Plagiarist's Song 7

Bert Lloyd 8

The Ballad of Blind Jack Metcalf 10

The Balladeer's Lament 12

The Wold Is Everything That Is The Case 13

Sternomancy 14

The Marbled Page 16

Indirections 18

Shapeshifting Ghosts of Byland Abbey 19

The Golden Calf 21

'Combat Gnosticism' 22

The Year's Mind, Ripon 23

Canto 24

Mother Shipton 31

Ashtrayville 32

The Passion of the Holly 34

Long Will 36

In His Shadow 38

Opening Night 39

Sardana 40

The Rum District 41

Riddle 43

Brick Arch 44

Give Me Your Hand 46

Square Ring 48

Contracted Silences 49

The White Page 50

Bridled Vows 51

The Full Weight of the Law 52

The Scripture of the Jade Pivot 53

Aliens 55

Selkie 56

Acknowledgements and Notes 59

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