De Chirico's Threads, the new collection of poems from Carol Rumens, features an unusual centre-piece, a verse-play, fizzing with ideas and surrealist imagery, based on the life and work of the Italian painter Georgio De Chirico, as well as forty pages of distinctive and beautifully crafted individual poems by one of the UK's best poets.An acute socio-political awareness, sometimes satirical, sometimes tender, inspires a number of pieces such as the dystopian vision of '2084', while 'The Tadpole goddess' is a clever alternative nature poem. Rumens' delight in form is displayed in the series 'Six Sonnets on Petrarchan Themes'. Also here are poems about various places in London, such as the Crystal Palace rail station and 'East Ending' which celebrates an old music hall.Sophisticated, playful, relevant and humane, a new collection by Carol Rumens is not to be missed."But suddenly Carol Rumens' Blind Spots arrives, her best work ever. Philosophical, playful, with umpteen forms expertly managed, Rumens explores her fusion of the personal and political. There is no word out of place… this collection will be read decades from now…." Bill Greenwell, The IndependentCarol Rumens is the author of fourteen collections of poetry, most recently Blind Spots (Seren, 2008), as well as fiction, translations from Russian, criticism and drama (she has had three plays produced). She has been shortlisted twice for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, in 1998 and 2002. She has also edited several anthologies, and is Professor in Creative Writing and Literature at Bangor and Hull universities. She also has a weekly poetry blog on the Guardian online website.
