Zoo (Salt Modern Poets S.) [Hardcover]

Tobias Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2007 | Series: Salt Modern Poets S.

"Zoo" is Tobias Hill's third collection of poems. It shows the growing maturity of a voice already distinctive three years ago, when his first collection was noted for its 'grand irony and playful humour, with episodes of tenderness and even charm'. Hill's poems combine narrative impetus with musical lyricism. Influenced by the poetry of Japan and the paintings of Edward Hopper, they are full of intense sound, smell, and visions. Often through a nocturnal eye, Hill describes an urban-pastoral landscape, full of the greenhouse luxuriance of city flora, fauna and humanity. 'Hill's special territory, in poetry and prose, is the 'urban-pastoral' ...his native North London is transformed, with many deftly dark touches, into an uneasy realm of the imagination. Hill clearly appreciated Simon Armitage's storytelling persona; he also drew upon observation of the natural world in ways associated with Ted Hughes. Much of his imagery is by turns delicately 'Japanese', or reminiscent of the heyday of Craig Raine's 'Martian' style. Hill has a romantic dimension in his work that is all his own. As a young man with an intense curiosity about the world, his work is full of sensual images, vignettes of city life - and romance ...these are poems of flirtation and desire' - "contemporarywriters.co.uk". 'The closeup detail taken directly from nature, then skewed through 90 to give the reader something completely new, even unique ...with this third collection, Hill promises to be a real force in poetry, displaying an utterly contemporary understanding of how nature continues to work' - "Poetry Review". 'There is a 'fin de siecle' decadence about them ...not least in their brightly coloured diction, their luxuriant descriptiveness, their louche postures' - "Poetry Wales". 'Superb conjurations of place' - Adam Mars Jones. 'Compassionate and intelligent ...so full of action and interest and that brings alive such an array of people and places, that it is difficult to believe they sprang from the pen of one writer' - Rachel Cusk.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Selected as one of the country's Next Generation poets, shortlisted for the 2004 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and named by the TLS as one of the best young writers in the country, Tobias Hill is one of the leading British writers of his generation. His award-winning collections of poetry are Year of the Dog, Midnight in the City of Clocks, and Zoo. His fiction has been published to acclaim in many countries. AS Byatt has observed that "There is no other voice today quite like this."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Salt Publishing; 2nd edition (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844714136
• ISBN-13: 978-1844714131
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces

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