Publisher's Synopsis
This lively sampler anthology celebrates Bloodaxe's 25th birthday, with poems from 25 new books published in the anniversary year. Selected by founding editor Neil Astley, it shows that the famous Bloodaxe edge hasn't been blunted by age, and that Britain's sharpest poetry imprint is still discovering some of the most imaginatively adventurous new poetry from around the world. This year's output also includes new editions of major modern writers, vigorous translations of poetry classics, and anthologies of contemporary poetry aimed at a broad readership. With its bold and diverse stable of new and established British, Irish, American, European and Commonwealth writers, Bloodaxe has revolutionised poetry publishing in Britain. Its authors and books have won virtually every major literary award given to poetry, from the Pulitzer to the Nobel Prize. Bloodaxe has also been a pioneering publisher of poetry in translation, and has built its reputation over 25 years on publishing numerous new poets alongside some of the most important figures in modern poetry. This book is not only a birthday sampler. It is an alternative anthology presenting a completely different map of contemporary poetry from the academically distorted view now being foisted on readers by poetry's new spin doctors. It is representative not only of Bloodaxe's publishing but of all the poets who believe poetry's prime concern is human life not intellectual word-games.
