A Night on the Lash

Acutely aware of how the political informs the personal, Graham Mort's unflinching studies of the dark characters, the despots, the murder scenes, and the refugees that inhabit his poetry are built like a painting—a steady accumulation of precise, beautifully observed details. The pictures that emerge are often surprising, even shocking, in their effects. Poems that seek out human desire and tenderness function as a counterpoint to those exploring political or social breakdowns. In this new anthology of his poetry, Graham Mort is consistently adept at imbuing a landscape with the mood and memories of its inhabitants, as in the sequence "Cuba Libre at Café España." Touching, thoughtful, and articulate, this collection confirms Graham Mort's reputation as a gifted poet.

"Graham Mort's work . . . arises from a steady, scrupulous concentration on its subjects and a refusal to yield seriousness to effect." —Sean O'Brien and Ruth Padel, PBS Bulletin

Graham Mort is the director for postgraduate studies in creative writing at Lancaster University and the project leader for the British Council Crossing Borders mentoring program for African writers. His first collection of poems, A Country On Fire, received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors, while his last, Circular Breathing, was a Poetry Book Society recommendation.