Friendly Street New Poets 8

The Windmill’s Song is a well-grounded convincing evocation of childhood, of a particular past. There is colour, movement, and human interaction, a real sense of life and the details of living. Elaine Barker writes with a relaxed tone and an easy discipline of diction.

Tess Driver achieves a quiet intimate tone through well-judged silences and understatement. Kite Lady is an atmospheric collection ranging from land to sea yet focused by a deft use of detail and crisp visual images.

The poems in David Mortimer’s Fine Rain Straight Down are intellectually decisive and linguistically playful - aural, ironic and surprising. A good sense of rhythm and timing enhance this richly varying collection.