November

by Sean O'Brien

November' is Sean O'Brien's first collection since his widely celebrated 'The Drowned Book', the only book of poetry to have won both the Forward and T. S. Eliot prizes. November is haunted by the missing, the missed, the vanished, the uncounted, and the uncountable lost: lost sleep, connections, muses, books, the ghosts and gardens of childhood. Ultimately, these lead the poet to contemplate the most troubling absences.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2011

About the author

Sean O'Brien is a British poet, critic and playwright. Prizes he has won include the Eric Gregory Award (1979), the Somerset Maugham Award (1984), the Cholmondeley Award (1988), the Forward Poetry Prize (1995, 2001 and 2007) and the T. S. Eliot Prize (2007). He is one of only four poets (the others being Ted Hughes, John Burnside and Jason Allen-Paisant) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same collection of poems (The Drowned Book).
Born in London, England, O'Brien grew up in Hull, and was educated at Hymers College and Selwyn College, Cambridge. He has lived since 1990 in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he teaches at the university. He was the Weidenfeld Visiting Professor at St. Anne's College, Oxford, for 2016–17.

Reviews

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Paris, trains, books.

Three things that featured heavily in this collection and should have meant but did not quite add up to, great things. I think the subject matter was well chosen and really did appeal to me but it was lost in the execution, not one poem is actually good and O'Brien did nothing to captivate me.

[Harry Rutherford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally got around to joining the Poetry Book Society when I heard they had lost their government funding; this is one of the first books they sent me. I can appreciate the skill — this is certainly much better written than some of the things I've given three stars to — but for whatever reason these didn't particularly connect with me.

[Mauberley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid piece of work which I finished with mixed feelings. There is one bona fide jewel, however, and that is O'Brien's translation of 'The Drunken Boat'.

[Hattie Long · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just wasn’t for me. There was one or two that resonated with me but the rest was completely lost which was a big shame. This is not the kind of poetry for me unfortunately it dragged on snd I was left looking forward to finishing it

[Juliana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn’t hold my attention at all and none of the poems really moved me.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Competent but I felt a little unmoved. This didn't captivate me.

[Miel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful. Bleak. Bold!

[Gen Giggles · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an OK collection. "On The Toon" was by far the best poem in the book.