Penguin Modern Poets 2: Controlled Explosions

The Penguin Modern Poets are succinct guides to the richness and diversity of contemporary poetry. Every volume brings together representative selections from the work of three poets now writing, allowing the curious reader and the seasoned lover of poetry to encounter the most exciting voices of our moment.

"Is it any wonder I've got
too much blood on my hands? The calls
are coming from inside the house.
I'm sick of my insane demands."
- Michael Robbins, 'Peel Off the Scabs'

". . . The childhood of the dunk
was no childhood at all.
He practiced on a paper route, throwing The Sun
to the same place each morning. Did not sleep long
but when he slept, the springs of his bed imparted
something to him. At night the streetlight floated
down and let him dribble it."
- Patricia Lockwood, 'The Descent of the Dunk'

"if my signal drops it's because i've climbed with them, we're so high now
i can in one single inverted yawn of my eyes full of skin and sex and fury see the whole city i so slowly streetlamp by streetlamp from the other side spent my life seeing in a drowning

"and this one boy here he's doing
he's doing a painting, it's the last day of august, it's a painting of a bed and"
- Timothy Thornton, 'Voicemail for David Hoyle'

Michael Robbins was born in Kansas during the Nixon Administration. Some time later, he received his PhD in English from the University of Chicago. His debut poetry collection, Alien vs. Predator, was published in the US by Penguin in 2012; it was followed by The Second Sex in 2014. His poetry and criticism have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, Harper's, and many other publications. He lives in America with the best cat in the world. Patricia Lockwood was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA and raised in all the worst cities of the Midwest. Her debut collection, Balloon Pop Outlaw Black, was released in 2012 by Octopus Books; her second collection, Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, is forthcoming from Penguin Books in 2017 alongside her memoir, Priestdaddy. Her poems have appeared widely, including in The New Yorker, The London Review of Books, Tin House and Poetry. Timothy Thornton is a writer, composer, pianist, and teacher, based in Brighton. His poetry and prose has appeared in numerous journals in print and online; his work for theatre and the stage has been performed at venues such as the Battersea Arts Centre and The Yard Theatre. His books of poetry include Jocund Day (Mountain Press, 2011), Working Together for a Safer London (Barque Press, 2015), Water and Burning Effects On/Off (Shit Valley, 2015) and Broken Slat From Starling (The Winter Olympics, 2015).