Genre: Poetry, Mythology, Fairytales

Gill does it again! She captivates within this collection and retells the tales that have been shared and told for generations with a brand new twist.

Her interpretation of every tale provides an insightful perspective of each fable - a twist previously not conceived. It elevates each story in a unique way.

Although containing new points of view each poem still offers a sense of nostalgia of tales told long ago, which captivated me even more.

The illustrations supplementing the stories within adds a visual identity to each narrative told in a lovely subtle way. Gill is very clever at doing this, which makes her works so unique.

​I would highly recommend this collection to any poetry lovers or fairytale fans - it's an enjoyable and imaginative read, which is why I gave this five out of five stars.

Genre: Poetry, Mythology

Gill explores a fascinating side to Greek Mythology within this collection of poems, it brought an interesting insight and perspective on the Greek gods that I had not encountered previously.

What the poet does very cleverly here, and I'm probably stating the obvious, is showcasing the characters, charisma, and influence of the Greek goddesses, which is such a refreshing take on such a prominent set of stories and myths.

​I have recently started researching, and becoming interested in Greek mythology, and when reading this collection, at first it seemed the order was a bit strange. However, I gradually noticed that instead of being chronologically ordered, these stories were grouped and ordered by the goddesses they were featuring.

What I did really like in this collection was the link between historical and modern, showing how these goddesses and gods would be within today's society - this was fascinating and gave them a whole new outlook and perspective. 

The illustrations within this collection are brilliant and excellently created and designed, they accompanied the poems very well and added a pictorial and visual element to the poem and how the poet envisioned each goddess and god.

I gave this book five stars as I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it definitely added to my knowledge of Greek mythology. This is the second collection that I have read from Nikita Gill and I would highly recommend them. 

Genre: Poetry

It is very clear from the start of this collection that it is a culmination of a variety of poems pulled together. This technically should have been called 'Magaret Atwood: Selected Poems'.

At the start the poems flowed and seemed to link very nicely, however, as I delved deeper into the collection this link seemed to be more tenuous and a little shoe-horned.

It's frustrating because as individual pieces they worked and I actually really enjoyed some of them, but I just felt that there was something missing bringing these into a full collection.

​This was my rationale for giving this collection only three stars. I will look to try more of margret's collection, but this one just didn't sing to me.

Genre: Poetry, Autobiography

This collection by Raymond Antrobus is a great follow-on from his previous collection 'The Perseverance'. Thus, it is not surprising that this collection has also received high praise and solid reviews.

Antrobus provides us with a deeper insight into his family, roots and memories in this collection. Through a variety of styles, form and content Antrobus clearly shows us in more detail memoirs, recollections and musings form his past and family's past.

Unlike Antrobus' first collection this collection has no title poem, instead the theme of 'All the Names Given' runs throughout each and every poem included within this book, which strings them all together seemlessly. 

Therefore it's clear that this collection gets a solid five stars ***** as it evokes emotions from the content of each and every verse, as well as a sense of knowing the poet more personally. It's a great read and I would recommend this to anyone who has a passion for poetry and verse.

Genre: Poetry, Autobiography

Daley-Ward has poured themselves completely within this collection. It is clear from the outset that we will be travelling along a personal and yet emotional journey with this poet.

​From the start we are greeted with images of love, family, happiness, loss, pain and sorrow. It’s a collection that has everything you would want to find within a collection of poetry.

The Poets intention with this book is obviously to touch deep in the emotional depths of the readers phsyche, which they achieve in good measure.

It’s obvious as well that the poet has decided the let the metaphorical pen flow within this collection as well, allowing for a freer and less constrained verse.

There were moments of reflection whilst reading this book as the content matter was constantly kept at such a high emotional level that I had to refocus my mind to fully appreciate what they were trying to achieve here.

Daley-Ward has clearly showed off their skills as an imaginative and immersive writer - this is the reason why I gave this collection four out of five stars.

If you have a poetry ‘to-read’ list then this must definitely be on it - you won’t be disappointed.

Genre: Poetry, Autobiography

This collection has everything you want - intrigue, drama and nostalgia fill it's pages. Not only are we treated to ​some insightful and powerful poetry, but we are taken on an emotional journey alongside the poet.

What is unique about this collection is that each poem is created from another pre-existing poem from other well known poets, including; Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, Andrew Motion, Seamus Heaney - to name just a few of such an incredible line-up of poets and their works included in this book.

Not only is this collection of verse autobiographical in nature it is also a compendium of poetry from other contemporary poets, which makes it act like an anthology of poetry also - thus, it has a dual purpose of which I thank Inua kindly for sharing.

When thinking about the construction of this volume it is interesting to note how hard the admin must have been for this - to obtain permissions from each of the poets for their poems that are included in this collection. It must have been quite the undertaking.

In a rare insight the poems included within this collection are supplemented by diary entries from Inua. We were treated to view the poets thought processes when construction each piece and the collection as a whole - adding context to such personal stories.

​There is some really stoic and personal poetry within this collection - which shows Inua's story from Nigeria, to Ireland and finally to England. It's a journey of not only destinations but also by emotions. All the time however not detracting from the original pieces - each piece holds resonance and form.

It's a credit to the way Inua approached and researched each piece that although he's telling his story - as the reader you can clearly see the rationale for the choice of each piece.

My reasoning for awarding this book four stars is because this collection is quite complex and I had to pop it down a couple of times to digest but also to flip between pages so I could see the relationship and connection with the original poem.

I would highly recommend this collection - it's a great and powerful read, that only looks to inspire creativity. Go and grab yourself a copy - you won't be disappointed.

Genre: Poetry

Where do I begin with The Perseverance. Raymond Antrobus has cleverly managed to merge emotions and education in this captivating collection of poetry.

Antrobus has built on the work he did with his pamphlet - Too Sweeten Bitter, published by Out-Spoken Press. 

The overarching aim of this collection is clear - to educate readers on D/deaf and British Sign Language (BSL). I must say Raymond has done this with heartfelt emotion and a sense of nostalgia.

Intertwined with the education messages were renditions of stories and memories of Raynonds personal experiences and also of family members - making it gripping and creating intrigue.

Antrobus also puts himself into the words contained in this book. He talks of his own experiences and tells tales of growing up and trying to fit-in without hearing. He does this in a masterful and disarming way.

Below Raymond performs the title poem and talks about his rationale and reasoning behind the collection and also discusses the process involved in putting together the book.

This book deserves no less than five out of five stars, as it encapsulates everything you would want from a poetry collection. Deep personal lyricism followed by a profound understanding of a much wider and topical issue that affects multitudes of people. He brings the personal and the impersonal together - seamlessly. 

Genre: Poetry, Children's Poetry

I found Little Lemur Laughing in a local library - and I got very excited seeing as I have had the opportunity to meet and see Joshua perform in person. 

The poems within this collection, however, were much different to what I had seen Joshua perform previously. It's aim was definitely to children - which is evident in both style and composition of the book.

Inside the poems are constructed in a very formulaic way, using a lot of technical devices, such as; alliteration, repetition, questions and similes. By utilising these tools the poems felt very aimed at a much younger audience.

Even though, technically I'm not really the target audience for this publication I really enjoyed it. It flowed really well and I loved the topics covered within it's covers.

Below is a poem written by Joshua in a similar style to the poems included within this collection. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Other works by Joshua include:

• I Don't Like Poetry
• Just Like Me!
• Morris Wants More
• My Grandpa's Beard

I gave this book four out of five stars because it does exactly what it sets out to do - entertain children and a young audience. This is a great collection of poetry for children. If you have children - they'll love it.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing what's next from Joshua...

Genre: Poetry, Chapbooks, History

In this short publication Hannah O'Reilly cleverly expands on the First World War poetry with this very visual and poignant chapbook.

Letter to an Unknown Soldier contains powerful imagery and very touching account of not only the life of a soldier during the First World War, but also of their friends and family and the emotional journey that they also went through.

Hannah is clever with her use of technical devises such as metaphors, similes and repetition. However, I feel her strongest asset within this poem was the simple, but delicate use of rhetorical questions. This makes the reader think and imagine the answers to these questions, therefore they create their own ideas and images of the scene that Hannah sets.

Prior to being introduced to this pamphlet styled book by a colleague before I had never come across the Chapbook styled publication before - and I must say I was not disappointed.

Alban's illustrations compliments the poem extremely well in providing a direction to the answers to the rhetorical questions set-out within the text. The style, theme and artistic style of the drawing cannot be faulted within this little Chapbook.

I gave this book four out of five stars for what this book was trying too and did achieve in its construction. It has uniquely added itself to the vast array of First World War poetry out there by giving it a more contemporary and inquisitive nature, which allowed us to question aspects of a soldiers life previously not considered.

On a whole - I enjoyed this book immensely. So much so that I may even look at producing one myself in the not-so-distant future. Watch this space...

Genre: Poetry

​I should start by saying that Numbered Boxes by Pete 'the Temp' Bearder is so good that I read it in its entirety over the course of one evening. 

When initially reading this I was hit with a complete sense of nostalgia. The way Pete spoke and the topics he talked about ignited memories from my childhood and my school life.

As I progressed through the collection I noticed that became gradually darker and darker, which was a clever move. It subtly shows the way that as we get older the world becomes a more complex place.

Within the collection the poem "Der Tale O Bellingham Yael"  is written in a 'Chaucer' esq. style. Initially I thought that reading this one was going to be a struggle, but I was pleasantly surprised. It flowed, and more than that, it made me concentrate harder and think more about what I was reading in front of me.

I gave this book four out of five stars because it did not try to be more than what it set out to be. Numbered Boxes is a good read filled with lot's of imagery, and metaphors, and symbolism. It will make you think and reminisce. It's definitely a book you want to sit and devour with a good cuppa. 

Give it a go. It's a treat...