Laureate's Choice – serie

This first pamphlet by the West Midlands poet Natalie Burdett explores the delicate negotiations through which we relate to place and those around us. ‘Bobhowler’ highlights the power of language in unearthing forgotten experience. These tender but insightful poems explore what it means to be human, challenge expectations, and celebrate the hidden beauty and grace of the modern urban world. ‘Birmingham’ is an affecting love poem addressed to the city that is ‘blossoming new curves’. Rich in detail and with a distinctive musicality, you’ll be keen to return to these poems, and be rewarded by their depth of intelligence and heart.

Troupers pays tribute to not only the stars of Music Hall and Variety, but also the forgotten artistes who were beloved, in their time, by the nation. Acts like Macauley’s Leaping Infants, The Bryn Pugh Sponge Dancers, Willy Netta’s Singing Jockeys and many more are revived to be celebrated again. We see the lives they lived, the routines they performed, and their relevance to us all, as people, today.

Rich and haunting poems that contemplate the risks and chances taken in life and love. Memories of a London-Irish childhood, explorations of the past, regret and loss, even stark confrontations with pain and mortality, celebrate and affirm through their alchemy of language and wit.

The Day of the Flying Ants is about home and leaving home. Much of this entertaining pamphlet focuses on finding, losing, and loving a sense of place. Ants fly when they’re compelled to leave home, when they’ve grown up, when there’s no place in the nest anymore. Whether in Derbyshire or Wales, these well-observed poems find their own place in an odd but familiar world.

The Laureate’s Choice is an annual pamphlet publication project from The Poetry Business working in collaboration with the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. This boxed set contains all four pamphlets selected by Carol Ann Duffy for 2019:

Greg Gilbert, Love Makes a Mess of Dying - Examining the collision between tragedy and hope, these poems follow the struggle to make sense of the prognosis and treatment of a life-threatening disease whilst surrounded by the love and support of friends and family. With cover illustrations by the author.

Karen Smith, Schist - Schist is the lovechild of emotion and geology, the product of a childhood with a schizophrenic mother and an anorexic father on a council estate in Croydon. These poems travel to where the land gives way to the sea and family stability is eroded by illness and death.

Louise G. Cole, Soft Touch - Sharp and observant, Louise G. Cole’s poems use wry humour to balance the pathos arising from picking holes in life’s day-to-day dramas. She often finds poetry in the mundane, twisting fantasy and truth with a memorable resonance.

Yvonne Reddick, Spikenard - Spikenard smoulders with lust and loss. These are poems of separation, assault and revenge, with violence lurking in their margins.

The Mechanics of Love explores the impact of medicine on personal experiences and the human condition. As both biochemist and poet, Victoria Gatehouse is uniquely positioned to examine everything from mechanical heart valves and folklore to her experiences of an 80s childhood and being a mother with non-sentimental, scientific, yet tender scrutiny.

The Laureate’s Choice Anthology brings together substantial selections from each of the 20 poets chosen by Carol Ann Duffy during her time as Poet Laureate.

As Carol Ann concludes her hugely successful 10-year tenure we celebrate these exciting and eclectic new voices in contemporary verse.

Love, death, Bruce Willis, public urination, being a woman, love, The Nanny, love. This pamphlet of poetry by Hera Lindsay Bird, is a startling departure from her bestselling debut Hera Lindsay Bird by defying convention and remaining exactly the same, only worse. This collection, which focusing on love, childish behaviours, 90’s celebrity references and being a woman is sure to confirm all your worst suspicions and prejudices. In a recent comments section on the Guardian, her work was described as “This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs,” and “This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.”

Examining the collision between tragedy and hope, these poems follow the struggle to make sense of the prognosis and treatment of a life-threatening disease whilst surrounded by the love and support of friends and family.

Spikenard smoulders with lust and loss. These are poems of separation, assault and revenge, with violence lurking in their margins.