Slakki - Softcover

Fisher, Roy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780373228 ISBN 13: 9781780373225

Publisher: Bloodaxe Books, 2016

Synopsis

Opening with new poems written during Roy Fisher's 80s - since his Costa-shortlisted collection Standard Midland (2010) - the book's second section is a gathering of uncollected poems mainly written during the 1960s, while the third part contains poems, similarly uncollected, written in the 1950s. Slakki is Old Norse for a shallow depression among hills: "Not much of a valley. A Slack," writes Roy Fisher, with typical self-effacement. Derek Slade contributed substantially to composing the notes on sources and earlier appearances of the works gathered here.

About this title

About the Author

Roy Fisher has published over 30 poetry books, and has been the subject of numerous critical essays and several studies, including The Thing About Roy Fisher: Critical Essays on the Poetry of Roy Fisher, edited by Peter Robinson and John Kerrigan (Liverpool University Press, 2000), and of The Unofficial Roy Fisher, edited by Peter Robinson (Shearsman Books, 2010). He has published four books with Bloodaxe. The Dow Low Drop: New & Selected Poems (1996) was superseded by his later retrospective, The Long and the Short of It: Poems 1955-2005 (2005), and followed by his most recent collection, Standard Midland (2010), published on his 80th birthday, which was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. An expanded edition, The Long and the Short of It: Poems 1955-2010 - including Standard Midland - was published in 2012. His first US Selected Poems, edited by August Kleinzahler, was published by Flood Editions in 2011. His latest book, Slakki: New & Neglected Poems, is published by Bloodaxe in 2016. Born in 1930 in Handsworth, Birmingham, he retired as Senior Lecturer in American Studies from Keele University in 1982. He is a freelance writer and jazz musician, and lives in Derbyshire.

Review

'Standard Midland is an honest appraisal of what it is possible to say, and what remains to be said, by an artist in old age. It finds Fisher at his most approachable and makes an excellent introduction to this important poet's work.' - Paul Batchelor, Guardian; 'Witty, profound and moving meditations on loss and ageing; a wonderfully varied testament to a very English blend of imagination and reserve.' - Costa Poetry Award judges' comment; 'There is no poet alive whose work has challenged or interested me more.' - August Kleinzahler.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1780373228
• ISBN 13: 9781780373225
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 79
• Editor: Robinson Peter