The Ambulance Box (Salt Modern Poets) - Hardcover

Andrew Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1844714918 ISBN 13: 9781844714919

Publisher: Salt Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

The Ambulance Box heralds the arrival of a strong and passionate new voice. Striking a fine balance between thought and feeling, Andrew Philip's poetry is by turns lyrical, allusive and direct; subtly experimental and unafraid of traditional form. Above all, it is intense, tender, inquisitive writing, alive to the wonder as well as the hurt of the world we inhabit. At the heart of this book - dedicated to Philip's first child, who died shortly after birth - is a deeply moving exploration of loss and discovery. In poems of unsentimental and unsettling beauty, The Ambulance Box examines the sudden transformations of grief. Nonetheless, this is a wide-ranging volume and not without a sense of playfulness. A central sequence of poems, written to accompany an exhibition by award-winning Scottish painter David Martin, recasts John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" as a contemporary journey through faith and doubt, certainty and ambiguity. Environmental concerns are wrapped up in a mathematical meditation or a tribute to the music of Olivier Messiaen. The great German poet Rainer Maria Rilke is claimed for Philip's home nation in several fine Scots translations, including the stunning "Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes." This is poetry that will draw you back with its music, its mystery and its power.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Philip was born in Aberdeen in 1975 and grew up near Falkirk. His first collection of poetry, The Ambulance Box, was shortlisted for the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize for Poetry and in the Scottish Book Awards. His work has been published in the UK and US and included in anthologies such as The Forward Book of Poetry 2010, The Best British Poetry 2011 and Adventures in Form. He is a popular online tutor for the Poetry School and blogs at www.andrewphilip.net

Review

Already the book is attracting attention from leading Scottish poets, with one describing Andrew as "part of a significant group of younger poets who have digested the grandeur and diversity of the preceding generations of Scottish poets". * Linlithgow Gazette * Already the book is attracting attention from leading Scottish poets, with one describing Andrew as "part of a significant group of younger poets who have digested the grandeur and diversity of the preceding generations of Scottish poets". * Linlithgow Gazette *

About this edition

• Publisher: Salt Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1844714918
• ISBN 13: 9781844714919
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 69