Men Who Feed Pigeons

Selima Hill grew up in a family of painters in farms in England and Wales, and has lived in Dorset for the past 35 years. She received a Cholmondeley Award in 1986, and was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Exeter University in 2003-06. She won first prize in the Arvon International Poetry Competition with part of The Accumulation of Small Acts of Kindness (1989), one of several extended sequences in Gloria: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2008), which also includes work from Saying Hello at the Station (1984), My Darling Camel (1988), A Little Book of Meat (1993), Aeroplanes of the World (1994), Violet (1997), Bunny (2001), Portrait of My Lover as a Horse (2002), Lou-Lou (2004) and Red Roses (2006). Violet was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was shortlisted for all three of the UK’s major poetry prizes, the Forward Prize, T.S. Eliot Prize and Whitbread Poetry Award. Bunny won the Whitbread Poetry Award, was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was also shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Lou-Lou and The Hat were Poetry Book Society Recommendations. Her most recent collections from Bloodaxe are The Hat (2008); Fruitcake (2009); People Who Like Meatballs (2012), shortlisted for both the Forward Poetry Prize and the Costa Poetry Award; The Sparkling Jewel of Naturism (2014); Jutland (2015), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation which was shortlisted for the 2015 T.S. Eliot Prize and was earlier shortlisted for the Roehampton Poetry Prize; The Magnitude of My Sublime Existence (2016), shortlisted for the Roehampton Poetry Prize 2017; Splash like Jesus (2017); and I May Be Stupid But I'm Not That Stupid (2019). Her 20th collection, Men Who Feed Pigeons (2021) is shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection.

Arguably the most distinctive truth teller to emerge in British poetry…Despite her thematic preoccupations, there’s nothing conscientious or worthy about Hill’s work. She is a flamboyant, exuberant writer who seems effortlessly to juggle her outrageous symbolic lexicon…using techniques of juxtaposition, interruption and symbolism to articulate narratives of the unconscious. Those narratives are the matter of universal, and universally recognisable, psychodrama…hers is a poetry of piercing emotional apprehension, lightly worn… So original that it has sometimes scared off critical scrutineers, her work must now, surely, be acknowledged as being of central importance in British poetry – not only for the courage of its subject matter but also for the lucid compression of its poetics.

• The Anaesthetist19 The Anaesthetist19 The Banker19 The Care Worker20 The Chauffeur20 The Childhood Sweetheart20 The Classics Teacher21 The Cousin21 The Dancer21 The Dentist22 The Doctor22 The Doctor of Philosophy22 The Driver23 The Duke23 The Entomologist23 The Ex24 The Farmer24 The Father24 The Film Director25 The Finn25 The Friend26 The Gardener26 The Geek26 The Great-grandfather27 The History Teacher27 The Man Who Sits in Saunas27 The Married Man28 The Mathematician28 The Monk28 The Nurse29 The Opera Singer29 The Painter30 The Patient30 The Photographer30 The Poacher31 The Retired Solicitor31 The Sailor31 The Son32 The Supply Teacher32 The Tennis Coach33 The Tennis Player33 The Tractor Driver33 The Treasurer34 The Uncle The Beautiful Man with the Unpronounceable Name37 Standing on His Doorstep37 A Happy-looking Man38 The Beautiful Man Whose Name I Can’t Pronounce38 Never Go Upstairs in the Daytime39 In the Tiny House39 The People Who Still Call Themselves My Loved Ones40 The Toes of the Woman I’ve Never Met40 A Café We Could Go To40 God’s Gift to Wasps41 A Cup of Tea41 The Face of the Woman I’ve Never Met42 Never Even Hope42 A Woman, a Cyclist and a Teapot43 The Nose of the Woman I’ve Never Met43 Hating Me Would Be a Waste of Time44 What Kind of a Woman Am I?44 The Word Marriage44 Baby45 I’m Never Going to Think of Him Again45 Bicycles and Tricycles45 Krasznahorkai, Djokovic, Leghorn46 They Said It Would Be Hard46 Eating Potatoes in the Shed47 The Cake47 European Night Train Guides48 Spearmint Freshbreath Mouth-freshening Beads48 I Hear or Think I Hear on Moonlit NightsBilly51 My Mother’s Extraordinary Hair51 What It Feels Like to Talk to Him51 The Plateau Phase52 Stone52 Crab52 Jelly52 Raging Torrents, Soaring Peaks53 Rain53 I Try to Please Everyone53 The Woman with the Broken Leg54 Honey54 Sheep54 The Sun in All Its Glory55 His Childhood55 Romance55 Restaurant56 The Long Wait56 Skinny-dipping56 The Married Couple57 The Gents57 Other Members’ Towels57 Expensive French Cheeses58 Brandysnaps58 Everyone Is Watching58 Friendship59 As We Leave59 The Compliment59 Prawn Cocktails60 Me and Juan Martín del Potro60 Doll60 A New Pair of Fleece-lined Gloves61 Sitting as Still as I Can61 Baby61 The Red-haired Swimmer62 The Tea Is Cold62 Fancy Cakes62 Pain63 Teabag63 The Jolly Sailor63 Shopping64 My Life as a Pair of Crocs64 The Extra-large Crab Sandwich64 The Sea65 On the Beach65 Kindness65 Trolley66 Dinner66 Piglets66 The Surgeon’s Ring66 Walking Back to Happiness67 Sadness67 Hollyhock67 Chihuahuas68 God68 The Brunette68 The Tea Is Never Hot Enough69 Teddy69 Chickens69 Pink-and-white Fairy-cakes70 Furniture70 Semolina70 Buttered Toast71 The Warmth of the Knife71 Teapot71 Sand72 Midge72 Cupcake72 Every Time He Hurts Me I Tell Myself73 The Man Who Never Smiles73 Chocolate Pudding73 His Mother’s Dog74 Table74 Poodle74 The Buffalo75 Bucket75 What We Need to Think About75 Hand76 Corridor76 The Smile76 Solutions77 Photographs of Women with Straight Hair77 Ammonia77 In Giant Shorts78 The Plan78 Him and Me78 The Currant Bun79 A Person Who Is More Amenable79 Armadillo79 Giraffes80 Battleships80 My Idea of Fun80 Coffee-pot81 Thirty Murdered Women81 Two Bananas and a Frog81 The Good Fortune of the Man Sitting Opposite Me82 Badger82 Mount Fuji83 Pig83 My Mother’s Car83 Oxygen84 Life and Death84 I Used to Cry84 Electroencephalographs85 A Normal Person85 His New Bobble-hat85 Prayer86 Other People’s Noses86 Little Billy86 Rhinoplasty87 Golden Sands87 Hospital87 A Racehorse Called Rhododendron88 Sunshine88 Duty Doctor88 Profiteroles89 The Visitor89 Ears89 Mother R90 The Hospital at Night90 Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, KilimanjaroBiro93 The Visitor93 Like a Man Who’s Never Been in Love93 Rectitude94 My Uncle and Me in the Tobacconist’s94 My Uncle’s Drawing-room95 My Uncle’s Kitchen95 The Billiard Room96 My Uncle’s Bentley96 My Uncle’s Vegetable Garden97 My Uncle’s Blazer97 Newts97 A Housekeeper, a Butler and a Horse98 Brothers98 The Baths99 My Uncle’s Mother99 My Uncle Plays the Piano99 More than Seven European Languages100 Artichoke100 Poppet101 Silverfish101 Hotel Wellingtonia102 Doll102 The King103 The Illustrated Guide to British Moths103 Chocolate Sardines103 Vivarium104 When Biro Barks104 Doctor104 The Bell105 My Uncle’s Horse105 Cow106 The Doctor106 Photograph of a Baby107 Key107 The Word Jodhpurs107 Berries108 Spiders108 My So-called Personality Disorder108 What to Wear on Horseback109 Fathead109 My Uncle’s Bedroom110 Cheerfulness110 OstrichesThe Man in the Quilted Dressing-gown113 His Hairy Ears113 His Semolina114 His Most Precious Possession114 His Incomparable Picnics115 His Stony Silence115 His Slender Ankles116 His Little Rest116 His Missing Spectacle-case117 His Passion for Musicals117 His Itchy Fingers117 His Curvy Ladies118 His Dusty Dressing-gown118 His Useful Walking-stick119 His Toasty Socks119 His Shaky Hands120 His Love of Opera120 His Pinks120 His Starry Nights121 His Enormous Feet121 His Victoria Sponge122 His Big Blue Face123 His Bushy Hair123 His Mugs of Coffee124 His Sticky FlorentineOrnamental Lakes Seen from Trains127 Sandy Hollows, Godless Pines127 The Pit of His Stomach128 His Eyes128 Californian Waffles129 Warmth129 His Hand130 Man on a Lawn130 Chickens130 The Height131 The Golden Pennies131 You Either Love a Person or You Don’t132 Sauerkraut132 Chicken Thigh132 Windowpane133 The Eerie Llama133 The Chair133 My Horse-hoof Soup134 Castle134 Fear of Coffee135 Wedding Cake135 The Tank136 Bitter Chocolates on a Silver Tray136 The Mourner137 Why I Love Gyrocopters137 The Tall Man138 One Morning in July138 Ornamental Lakes as Seen from TrainsShoebill141 Elbow141 Snowdrop142 Hare142 It’s Like a Dream143 Pig143 Bird144 The Wall144 The Edge of Town145 Mole145 Watcher146 You Hold Me in Your Lap146 Your Hair Against My Back147 Fish147 Skinny as a Rake148 Sandbag148 Ugly149 Like the Flightless Birds149 Goblin150 The Love of Your Life150 Mice151 The Coat151 Hands152 The Hospital in Winter152 Cats with Spots153 Suitcase153 Your Beautiful Long Hair154 You Tell Me That You Love Me154 The House155 The Moth at Night155 Cake156 Bedside-locker Pig Farm156 Frosty Weather157 Dot157 Summertime