Collected Poems

Fleur Adcock is a renowned British poet known for her witty and insightful poems that explore love, family, identity, and politics. This first complete edition of her poetry is published on her 90th birthday, including five later collections and 20 new poems.

Format: Hardback
Length: 624 pages
Publication date: 10 February 2024
Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd

Fleur Adcock is a highly acclaimed poet from Britain, known for her poised, ironic, and tightly controlled poetry. Her work is characterized by a shrewdly laconic style that is often chilling as it exposes the deceptions of love or unravels family lives. Adcock's poems are disarmingly conversational in style, yet they possess remarkable psychological insight and an unsentimental, mischievously casual view of personal relationships.

Born in New Zealand, Adcock has explored questions of identity and rootedness throughout her work. She delves into her personal allegiances to her native and adopted countries, as well as her family history, which includes the long-dead characters she brings to life. Her poetry also touches upon themes of birth, death, and bereavement, displaying a deep understanding of the human experience.

With honest indignation and caustic wit, Adcock has also tackled political issues in her poetry. This first complete edition of her poetry is published on her 90th birthday, surpassing her earlier retrospective, Poems 1960-2000, with the addition of five later collections published by Bloodaxe, Dragon Talk (2010), Glass Wings (2013), The Land Ballot (2015), Hoard (2017), and The Mermaid's Purse (2021). These collections include her most celebrated poems, such as "Against Coupling," "Smokers for Celibacy," and "The Prize-Winning Poem," as well as modern classics like "The Ex-Queen Among the Astronomers" and "Things."

This comprehensive edition showcases Adcock's poetic journey, providing a glimpse into her talent and versatility as a poet. It is a testament to her lasting impact on the literary world and a celebration of her remarkable talent.

Weight: 1324g
Dimension: 167 x 242 x 50 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781780376844
Edition number: Hardback first edition published simultaneously wi