CNUT

Evans' debut, Threads-a collaboration with photographer Justin David also published by Inkandescent-was longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. His follow-up bears the watermarks of someone who's swum life's emotional spectrum. Some poems barely contain their righteous anger within visceral verse - 'The old are eating the young / in great Goya gobfuls'. Others, such as What the Cat Dragged Back, examine subtler sentiments: in response to your partner picking up a lover for you to share, for instance - 'I rub damp fur, wondering / which disco dustbin / you picked this one up in / and how best to dispose of him'. Short and (bitter)sweet, this is poetry for a mobile generation, poetry for sharing - often humorous and always honest about contemporary human experience. Exploring issues such as climate crisis, Brexit, gentrification and the rise of populist politics, these poems say more in a few lines than politicians say in volumes and offer an antidote to modern living.