Selected Poems

Description

This text draws on six previous collections published between 1978 and 1994. The earlier poems are diverse, ranging from descriptions of work in heavy industry to observations of wildlife around the writer's childhood home in Wales. Later poems deal with travel in Brazil and the United States, and also deal with schizophrenia. The book celebrates the life and characters of a close-knit community. It then breaks away from the peopled landscape to consider history and culture from wider persepectives.

Robert Minhinnick, born near Neath in 1952, has published poetry and two collections of essays.His book of essays on the Welsh environment, Watching the Fire Eater, was Welsh Book of the Year in 1993. He has received an Eric Gregory Award for his poetry, a John Morgan Award for his prose work and two Arts Council of Wales Literature Prizes. In 1998 he received a Cholomondeley Award. He founded Friends of the Earth Cymru (Wales) in 1984 and has worked as a writer in residence in Canada, travelling back there regularly to give readings. He is currently editor of Poetry Wales and his most recent collection of essays was Badlands(Seren, 1996). Selected Poems was Robert Minhinnick's first title to be published by Carcanet, followed by After The Hurricane in 2002.