The Blood Choir

Tim Liardet’s masterly new collection, The Blood Choir , will surprise readers with its dramatic subject matter: teaching poetry in prison. An acutely observed incident is recalled and given a multitude of perspectives, each resounding with an emotional corollary - sometimes fear, often sympathy. The vision is dark, but not without humour. There is a playful inventiveness and an adroit irony, often at the author’s expense. As well as the work inspired by the prison there are digressions: several poems stem from the foot and mouth outbreakof 2001. If this sounds dark the reader will be almost dazzled by the skill with which Liardet writes. This difficult subject matter has provoked an outstanding poetic response.