Short Days, Long Shadows

In this, her twelfth collection, noted poet Sheenagh Pugh steps into a new, northern landscape, the Shetland Islands, with poems steeped in the wilder weathers and views of rugged coastlines, sweeping sea-vistas and the hardy historical characters who have inhabited these lands. A lovely pared-down spareness and an elegaic quality informing this new work. The author''s characteristic dry humour is also present; she is a poet who considers ''too accessible'' to be the best sort of compliment. Sheenagh Pugh''s work has as much to offer the general reader as it does the specialist, who will admire her artful use of traditional forms.