The Epic of Cader Idris

(Paperback)

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The debut collection from an electrifying new talent - a poet of philosophical depth, searching intellect, and lyric grace Intimate and epic, dark and profound, interweaving hip hop beats with the mythology of the British Isles, Samatar Elmi's A Darker Light is an unforgettable debut collection about the gift and curse of diaspora. With a watchful eye on the minutiae of nature's cycles of life and death, and a profound connection to the land and language that make and unmake our histories, Elmi's poems shine with grace and blaze with defiance.

Reviews

Samatar seamlessly blends influences from Somali oral history, Ovidian tales and Homer's Odyssey ... Cathartic, musical, emotionally satisfying as well as erudite * POETRY BOOK SOCIETY *
Elmi's whose plangent lyrics disguise a sharp bite * GUARDIAN, Best recent poetry *
Samatar Elmi is engaged in the timeless project that is at poetrys root; that of bringing disparate consciousnesses into dynamic, thrilling, relation across boundaries of time and space -- KAYO CHINGONYI

Author Bio

Samatar Elmi is a poet, PhD candidate and educator. His writing plays in the liminal spaces between racial, socio-cultural and political identity claims. He has been shortlisted for the Venture Award, the Complete Works II, New Generation African Poets and is a graduate of the Young Inscribe Mentoring Program. His poems have appeared in Poetry Review, Magma, Iota, Ink Sweat and Tears, Myths of the Near Future, Scarf, The Echoing Gallery and The Cadaverine. samatarelmi.co.uk