Almost the Equinox: Selected Poems

(Paperback)

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A welcome selection from one of the most original and accomplished poets of her generation, described as 'the heiress of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman' * A POETRY BOOK SOCIETY SPECIAL COMMENDATION * Sarah Maguire's first collection, Spilt Milk, established her as one of the most original voices in British poetry, and led to her being chosen as one of the New Generation Poets. Three critically acclaimed volumes have since followed - The Invisible Mender, The Florist's at Midnight and The Pomegranates of Kandahar - to form a lucid, lyrical and rich body of work remarkable for its intelligence and artistry. This welcome selection of Maguire's poems spans time and continents - from the 'bare flanks' of the Thames at low tide to the night streets of Marrakech - bringing us the sights and sounds of distant lands, as well as taking us to the very heart of human feeling. Verdant in imagery and imagination, this is poetry of extraordinary precision and power - fully attuned to 'that precious music, / the pitch of flesh / on flesh'.

Reviews

Almost the Equinox is a bouquet gathered over time. These beautiful poems belong together- in a way that is rarely the case with selected poems -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *
Simple ideas braided with complexity -- Jeanette Winterson * Guardian *
[Maguire] observes the physical world and the definitive failure of human choices with equal clarity These are love poems to the world. -- Fiona Sampson * New Statesman *

Author Bio

Born in west London, where she lived all her life, Sarah Maguire left school early to train as a gardener. The author of four highly praised poetry collections, she was the editor of Flora Poetica- The Chatto Book of Botanical Verse. The first writer to be sent to Palestine and Yemen by the British Council, she was the founder and director of the Poetry Translation Centre, an organisation that aims to enhance English poetry by engaging with the rich poetic traditions of the UK's recent immigrant communities. Sarah Maguire died in 2017.