Carcanet Press - Leaf Graffiti

Leaf Graffiti

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like these words
forever fragments
uncomplete
themselves once
more

our conversation
will elide
sliding meanings
into silence
the hang of it

from ‘Uncompletement’

Leaf Graffiti, Lucy Burnett’s first collection, is restless, the poems always moving, playfully exploring the interface between words and things, rural and urban, nature and the human world. Fascinated by sequence, repetition and variation, the poet uses words, and the white spaces surrounding them, as raw materials: ‘i lay these words before your mind like bricks / yet tentative’. The music of her work, and the urgency of her themes, propel us towards conclusions that can nonetheless only ever be provisional: ‘if further centres / further into circles / if the weight of the world / is a story cupped in cumulus’. Leaf Graffiti is an innovative and passionate debut collection.

Lucy Burnett is from south-west Scotland, and in recent years has been based in the north of England. She currently lives in Cockermouth, where she gets out in the fells at every opportunity, and works as Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Cumbria. Previously she has worked at ... read more

Praise for Lucy Burnett 'The writing is distinguished by a tenuousness as if the details are created one by one out of the possibility of their existence, something that has to be coaxed by creating space for it to happen in.'
Peter Riley, The Fortnighly Review 'Lucy Burnett's poems involve us in a vivid experience of the self in landscape and language, moving playfully but with an intensity that at times leaves us breathless and amazed.'
Grevel Lindop 'There is something of Dylan Thomas in the exuberant wordplay and feeling for place, and something of W.S. Graham in her exploration of language and landscape as the twin territories within which we live... Burnett's subjects are serious ones, but her poems are joyful to read, revelling in the endless possibilities of language and of the world itself, "in whatever colour you might come".'
Helen Tookey

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Leaf Graffiti Lucy Burnett Categories: 21st Century, British, First Collections, Women Imprint: Northern House Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (72 pages) (Pub. Apr 2013) 9781847772022 Out of Stock Digital access available through Exact Editions Description Excerpt Author Reviews like these words forever fragments uncomplete themselves once more our conversation will elide sliding meanings into silence the hang of it from ‘Uncompletement’ Leaf Graffiti, Lucy Burnett’s first collection, is restless, the poems always moving, playfully exploring the interface between words and things, rural and urban, nature and the human world. Fascinated by sequence, repetition and variation, the poet uses words, and the white spaces surrounding them, as raw materials: ‘i lay these words before your mind like bricks / yet tentative’. The music of her work, and the urgency of her themes, propel us towards conclusions that can nonetheless only ever be provisional: ‘if further centres / further into circles / if the weight of the world / is a story cupped in cumulus’. Leaf Graffiti is an innovative and passionate debut collection. Lucy Burnett is from south-west Scotland, and in recent years has been based in the north of England. She currently lives in Cockermouth, where she gets out in the fells at every opportunity, and works as Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Cumbria. Previously she has worked at ... read more Praise for Lucy Burnett 'The writing is distinguished by a tenuousness as if the details are created one by one out of the possibility of their existence, something that has to be coaxed by creating space for it to happen in.' Peter Riley, The Fortnighly Review 'Lucy Burnett's poems involve us in a vivid experience of the self in landscape and language, moving playfully but with an intensity that at times leaves us breathless and amazed.' Grevel Lindop 'There is something of Dylan Thomas in the exuberant wordplay and feeling for place, and something of W.S. Graham in her exploration of language and landscape as the twin territories within which we live... Burnett's subjects are serious ones, but her poems are joyful to read, revelling in the endless possibilities of language and of the world itself, "in whatever colour you might come".' Helen Tookey You might also be interested in: PLACE Jorie Graham The Baboons of Hada Eric Ormsby Then Alison Brackenbury	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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