Carcanet Press - The Hundred Thousand Places

Description
Excerpt
Author
Awards
Reviews

as you look out
over the hill shapes
you feel your way
over the hill shapes
your eyes walk
over the slopes

To walk through a landscape is to be part of a slow unfolding of time and distance, to commit yourself to an adventure. The Hundred Thousand Places is a single poem that travels across seasons, through a variety of Scottish highland and island landscapes, from dawn to dusk. Make an early start, 'feel your way out / into what might…take form'. It is a long walk, along the coast, over mountain and moorland, through pine and birch forest, ending on a shore where the sea offers 'another knowledge / wild and cold'.

Attentive and responsive, the unhurried pace of Thomas A. Clark's writing draws the reader into a shared journey, pausing on the possibilities of a phrase, the music of the names of trees and flowers, or turning the page to open new horizons.

Cover painting: One Thousand Blue Places (detail) by Laurie Clark, reproduced by kind permission of the artist. Cover design by StephenRaw.com.

Thomas A Clark lives in a fishing village on the east coast of Scotland. Four books of his poetry previously published by Carcanet explore the landscape and culture of the highlands and islands. Numerous small books, cards and editions from his own Moschatel Press investigate ways that the presentation of poetry ... read more

Awards won by Thomas A Clark Short-listed, 2021 The Scottish Poetry Book of the Year (The Threadbare Coat) Long-listed, 2021 The Laurel Prize (The Threadbare Coat) Short-listed, 2017 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year Award (Farm by the Shore )

'The Hundred Thousand Places stands at a tentative and oblique angle to the more established modes of pastoral writing. There is a beautiful moment in George Oppen's 'Psalm' when he exclaims of some deer, 'That they are there!', and the fact of the natural world's being there at all supersedes the need for description. There is plenty of description in these poems, but they too converge on a place of revelation whose name is simply 'there'.'
The Guardian Praise for Thomas A Clark 'This is a serious and beautiful book.'

Kathleen McPhilemy, The High Window

'Clark's stripped-back poetry is a sensory delight. His terse yet concentrated lines hold a world of feeling.... There's a darkening in tone as they proceed but the real delight is in the way that Clark, using the fewest number of words, can transport you to that landscape.'

Teddy Jamieson, The Herald Magazine

'Everything is so pared back, exactly the same word can take on different nuances through juxtaposition... The effect is of distillation, concentration; the pared poetics mean there is nothing superfluous.'

Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman

'The Threadbare Coat is a beautiful production, and an interesting selection'

Rupert Loydell, Stride Magazine

'In short, one-breath clusters of lines, Clark meditates on the details one might observe during a contemplative and solitary walk through remote countryside. His diction is perfectly pitched and his grammar exact...this is about a man's spiritual need for the humblest manifestations of nature.'

Philip Rush, The North

'Meaning is discovered between spaces, silences heard between sound...a vitally alert poet.'
London Magazine

'A remarkable portrayal of our contemplative relationship with nature.'
Church Times Best Books of 2017

'With radical simplicity, Thomas A Clark's writing gives us the unfussy beauty of the natural world. There's not much that I ask of poetry that isn't present here.'
Matthew Welton
'These are love poems to the geography of Scotland and in their own inimitable way bring a clarity and vision to the 'scree slope' that 'tumbles/ into the green lochan.'.'
Casey Charles, Dundee University Review of the Arts

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The Hundred Thousand Places Thomas A Clark 10% off eBook (EPUB) Categories: 21st Century, Scottish Imprint: Carcanet Poetry Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: eBook (EPUB) Needs ADE! (Pub. May 2012) 9781847778178 £9.95 £8.96 Paperback (80 pages) (Pub. Nov 2009) 9781847770059 Out of Stock To use the EPUB version, you will need to have Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) installed on your device. You can find out more at https://www.adobe.com/uk/solutions/ebook/digital-editions.html. Please do not purchase this version if you do not have and are not prepared to install, Adobe Digital Editions. Description Excerpt Author Awards Reviews as you look out over the hill shapes you feel your way over the hill shapes your eyes walk over the slopes To walk through a landscape is to be part of a slow unfolding of time and distance, to commit yourself to an adventure. The Hundred Thousand Places is a single poem that travels across seasons, through a variety of Scottish highland and island landscapes, from dawn to dusk. Make an early start, 'feel your way out / into what might…take form'. It is a long walk, along the coast, over mountain and moorland, through pine and birch forest, ending on a shore where the sea offers 'another knowledge / wild and cold'. Attentive and responsive, the unhurried pace of Thomas A. Clark's writing draws the reader into a shared journey, pausing on the possibilities of a phrase, the music of the names of trees and flowers, or turning the page to open new horizons. Cover painting: One Thousand Blue Places (detail) by Laurie Clark, reproduced by kind permission of the artist. Cover design by StephenRaw.com. Thomas A Clark lives in a fishing village on the east coast of Scotland. Four books of his poetry previously published by Carcanet explore the landscape and culture of the highlands and islands. Numerous small books, cards and editions from his own Moschatel Press investigate ways that the presentation of poetry ... read more Awards won by Thomas A Clark Short-listed, 2021 The Scottish Poetry Book of the Year (The Threadbare Coat) Long-listed, 2021 The Laurel Prize (The Threadbare Coat) Short-listed, 2017 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year Award (Farm by the Shore ) 'The Hundred Thousand Places stands at a tentative and oblique angle to the more established modes of pastoral writing. There is a beautiful moment in George Oppen's 'Psalm' when he exclaims of some deer, 'That they are there!', and the fact of the natural world's being there at all supersedes the need for description. There is plenty of description in these poems, but they too converge on a place of revelation whose name is simply 'there'.' The Guardian Praise for Thomas A Clark 'This is a serious and beautiful book.' Kathleen McPhilemy, The High Window 'Clark's stripped-back poetry is a sensory delight. His terse yet concentrated lines hold a world of feeling.... There's a darkening in tone as they proceed but the real delight is in the way that Clark, using the fewest number of words, can transport you to that landscape.' Teddy Jamieson, The Herald Magazine 'Everything is so pared back, exactly the same word can take on different nuances through juxtaposition... The effect is of distillation, concentration; the pared poetics mean there is nothing superfluous.' Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman 'The Threadbare Coat is a beautiful production, and an interesting selection' *Rupert Loydell, Stride* Magazine** 'In short, one-breath clusters of lines, Clark meditates on the details one might observe during a contemplative and solitary walk through remote countryside. His diction is perfectly pitched and his grammar exact...this is about a man's spiritual need for the humblest manifestations of nature.' Philip Rush, The North 'Meaning is discovered between spaces, silences heard between sound...a vitally alert poet.' London Magazine 'A remarkable portrayal of our contemplative relationship with nature.' Church Times Best Books of 2017 'With radical simplicity, Thomas A Clark's writing gives us the unfussy beauty of the natural world. There's not much that I ask of poetry that isn't present here.' Matthew Welton 'These are love poems to the geography of Scotland and in their own inimitable way bring a clarity and vision to the 'scree slope' that 'tumbles/ into the green lochan.'.' Casey Charles, Dundee University Review of the Arts	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog One Little Room: Peter McDonald read more Collected Poems: Mimi Khalvati read more Invisible Dog: Fabio Morbito, translated by Richard Gwyn read more Dante's Purgatorio: Philip Terry read more Billy 'Nibs' Buckshot: John Gallas read more Emotional Support Horse: Claudine Toutoungi read more
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