Selected Poems - Brian Turner

This book is the first to represent the full extent of Brian Turner's achievement as a poet, from his Commonwealth Poetry Prize-winning debut, Ladders of Rain, to poems written in 2018. One of New Zealand's most acclaimed and widely read contemporary poets, Turner is a proud southerner, and the landscapes and skyscapes of the central South Island are amongst the strongest characteristics of his work. His themes range widely, and make striking connections - poems about fathers and sons are also poems about the duties of care we owe to the natural world; love poems open out into metaphysical inquiry; satire keeps close company with political protest. Turner's work is distinguished always by his unmistakable wit and feeling, precision and insight. `Beneath the wit, the no-nonsense honesty, the rigorous clarity of sense and the sinewy rhythmic energy of the poems' surfaces runs the craft of a sophisticated, confident and well-read poet.' -The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature Cover painting: Grahame Sydney, Poolburn Hill: to the Hawkduns (2018)