Antler

John Clegg grew up in Cambridge and currently lives in Durham, where he is completing a PhD on the Eastern European influence in contemporary poetry. A selection of his poetry was included in The Salt Book of Younger Poets (2010).

• LeatherAntlerMossPiltdownTributary MythThe Whole HogSpell for an OrchardNightgrassA Dead RacehorseFolk TaleShaman HunterWounded Musk OxAntlerRamon SijeMarimba MusicPetrified ForestFly EmbryoTreecreeperThe MysteriesKayaksThe BalanceMeteorMonolithInannaPaul’s JobWildfireLuzWisdom LiteratureLaceMermaidsPurgatorioDillThe Empty BottleSeasons in the Frame ShopTheologyGlaciologyLureThe King of HerringWillow TitVaisala and SinuheBordersMosquitoSaunaLearning GermanTensesGenderThe Buried OxPheasantsHair CutsCosmosThe Origin of ManLaceLies of the Land

Clegg mixes "genuine and imaginary anthropology", and the join between those aspects of his work that are essentially tall tales or fabulation and those that the results of diligent research is practically invisible. So too is the transition between tightly controlled traditional form and ranging free verse, the former being done so softly and unostentatiously. A quick march through some of the titles (’Moss’, ‘Nightgrass’, ‘Wounded Musk Ox’, ‘Kayaks’, ‘Meteor’, ‘Dill’, ‘Mosquito’) reads like a sort of ingredients list – words as ancient elements, boiled down tinctures, excavated knucklebones and panned nuggets, bottled and labelled for cautious use in the creation of spells and medicines. Plus there's the over-arching sensation of the poet's joyous obsessiveness, like a child collecting shells or insects, in everything he writes about.So yeah, yeah, I recommend it.