Afterlife

Polly Clark was born in Canada and brought up in Scotland. She received an Eric Gregory Award for her poetry in 1997. Three collections followed from Bloodaxe: the first, Kiss (2000), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation; her second, Take Me with You (2005), was a Poetry Book Society Choice and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize; her third was Farewell My Lovely (2009). Her pamphlet, A Handbook for the Afterlife, was shortlisted in the 2016 Michael Marks Awards. Poems from these collections and new poems are included in her forthcoming Afterlife: New & Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2026). Her debut novel, Larchfield (Quercus, 2017), fictionalised a little-known period in the life of W.H. Auden. It won the Mslexia Prize, as well as critical plaudits from Margaret Atwood, Louis de Bernières and Richard Ford. Her follow-up, Tiger (Quercus, 2019), was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year. Her third novel, Ocean, was published by Eye Books in 2025. Polly Clark’s essays and journalism have been published in The Guardian, The Scotsman, The Observer and The Financial Times, and on her Substack, Monday Night Reads. Her poetry has been widely broadcast on BBC radio. She divides her time between the west of Scotland and a houseboat in London.

• Afterlife (2026)15 Sculpture16 Muse18 Birdsong20 Paella Night21 Heaven22 That night a storm24 Men25 Seawanhaka Yacht Club 26 Io27 Highland Cow28 How to be a Poet29 Handbook30 Drain32 The Woman Zoo 33 Hive34 Port Meadow35 The Crowded Earth36 Interrogation37 Crossing38 Graduation Photo, 196439 The Mermaid40 Follower42 The Pet Man43 Her Kind44 My Mother’s Hands45 Fire Starter46 Spell48 Pelican49 Whale50 Tiger, Tigerfrom Kiss (2000)55 Love Story56 Snow57 Letter from Pécs58 Road to Chisholm59 Brief Encounter60 Adultery61 Retribution62 Zoo64 When You Were Made65 In the Pool Room66 Pilgrimage67 South Uist68 Where Swans Have Lain Down69 If You’re Interested70 Last Tango in the Men’s Department71 My Life with Horses72 A Lunch Date with My Father73 Take-off74 My Mother Marries My Father75 When I Close my Eyes76 Flowers77 Excitement78 New Forest Ponies79 Walk in the Rain80 Sunset81 Amsterdam82 Szechèny Tér82 I  The Consultant83 II  The Angels84 III  The Wish85 IV  The Dream86 Szalon Sör87 How to Love You88 Stephen Selects the Photographs90 Letter to the Man I Love92 Casualty Report93 Crime of Passion94 My Education at the Zoo96 Dora98 Baby99 The Pet Rabbit100 The Walk of Faith102 Dear Virginia Ironside103 The Writing on the Fridge104 Bears106 Pilate Comes to My Father’s Deathbed108 Progress Diary109 Metamorphosis110 Kleptomaniac111 My Faithless Mouthfrom Take Me with You (2005)115 The Poetry God116 My Life, the Sea117 The Voyage of the Rays118 Swan119 Fishing Boat120 Hedgehog121 Elvis the Performing Octopus122 Nibbling123 Buffalo Mozzarella124 Baize125 The Lexicographer Finishes P126 Nagyvázsony Castle127 Proposal from the Bottle Bank128 My Husband129 Dumbarton130 Your Wife132 Mule133 Women134 Two Views of Loch Long134 i Dance135 ii Lost Property136 Two Views of a Submarine138 Still Life with Table and Loch139 Wave140 Fairytale141 Defenestration142 Desiderata143 Domestic Science144 Rainbow145 XX146 My America147 Beijing148 Chengdu Massage149 Flights Over Siberia150 Bridefrom Farewell My Lovely (2009)I Thought It Was in Scotland: a Falklands war story155 Landing156 Not a Crap Hat157 May Your God Go with You158 Wild Horses159 Dear Mum160 Bruce Lee at Goose Green161 Fame!165 Bay Tree166 You Would Drop Your Spade167 Tour of Landscapes by the Artist168 Bar Harbor, Maine169 Shoes170 Yariguies Brush Finch171 Marriage172 Disorder173 Farewell My Lovely174 Dressed Up As Someone175 Islay176 Little Black Dog177 Dog Opera178 Trash179 Our Baby180 Laparoscopy181 Moon182 Return to Eden183 Magnificat184 Beheaded185 Special Care Unit186 She187 Ladies188 Directions189 The First Woman190 Friends191 Smile192 Another Girl193 The Book of Truths194 Struck197 Baby Group198 A Bench for Me199 Soup200 Sex in the City201 Last Will and Testament202 Thank You203 Advice to a Daughter204 To My Husband205 Tell Laura I Love Her

A rich and appealingly mysterious collection in which the end of youth, the birth of a child and the strangeness of marriage are filtered through an exact imagination, whose great strengths lie in taking nothing for granted and finding the point where the ordinary and the eternal intersect.