The Laureate of Gloucestershire

An engraver in short, sharp slashes that go deep. Andrew Salkey

Particles of observation, incomplete phrases and strange juxtapositions seem welded by some hidden charge into a power of feeling. - John Powell Ward

Keenly felt; passionately, precisely and lyrically conveyed - Simon Armitage

One of Australia's most gifted poets of both the natural and the human world.

A reckless tumble of words mixing the high and the low, like a rummage sale after the death of someone who adored both Shakespeare and smut. Norman Mailer

Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure. Mark Strand

My father could only sign/His name, but he'd look at blueprints/& say how many bricks/ Formed each wall - My Father's Letters, Yusef Komunyakaa

The blood jet is poetry,/ There is no stopping it. - 'Kindness', Sylvia Plath (written 1st February 1963)

Robert Minhinnick is the leading Welsh poet of his generation. - The Sunday Times

O Many Named Beloved / Listen to my praise - 'O Many Named Beloved', Samuel Menashe

Come close the flower says and we come close, / close enough to lift, cup and smell the rose - 'Come Close', Mimi Khalvati