Peculiar, unique, unusual, elements of Cummings, Stevie Smith and Larkin cohere then fall away, in a collection of darkly clear, or clearly dark poems.
Peculiar, unique, unusual, elements of Cummings, Stevie Smith and Larkin cohere then fall away, in a collection of darkly clear, or clearly dark poems.
Do not use, Poetry (general)
These poems act like short, sharp surprises. They can be oblique and then unravel with raw clarity, a strong and emotional openness pervading their deceptively simple structures. Coggin's strange and singular voice is recognisably English and even colloquial, but with a sophistication and love of imagery, even mystery. This is her first collection, and showcases not only her range but her unique relationship with memory, her presence in each poem more breathlike than embodied, and no less substantial for that.
Click on the circles below to see more reviews
Coggin’s poetry is both incisive and quirkily humourous. Well worth investigating.
~ Emmet O'Cuana, http://abookadaytillicanstay.wordpress.comLinda Coggin's poems are liminal, crossing and recrossing thresholds between real, surreal, and mythic, life and death, the transgressive and the responsible. There is deep humanity in these poems, often allied to the acceptance of sadness and of imperfections - domestic chaos, the facts of dying and ageing. A sharp-eyed and humorous poem about a father's day race ends with unexpected and moving compassion for the unfit stragglers. This collection surprises at every turn, catching the reader rewardingly off guard. ~ Dr John Freeman, Cardiff University
