Brought to Light

by Jem Poster

At once thoughtful and passionate, Jem Poster's poetry explores areas of perennial human concern. Love and the limits of love, the interplay of memory and imagination, the vulnerability of the natural world -- these and related matters stand at the heart of this first collection. There are shadows here, hints of the inexpressible as well as recurrent intimations of loss and damage; but these are part of a broader pattern, an essential counter-point to the poems' vivid evocations of life and light.

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

About the author

Jem Poster worked as an archaeologist, surveying and excavating a range of sites on behalf of the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, before taking up an administrative post with Cambridge University's Institute of Continuing Education in 1987. From 1993 to 2003 he was University Lecturer in Literature with Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education and a fellow of Kellogg College. From 2003 to 2012 he was Professor of Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University, and is now Emeritus Professor. He is the author of two novels, Courting Shadows (2002) and Rifling Paradise (2006), as well as a collection of poetry, Brought to Light (2001). He has won prizes in major poetry competitions including first prize in both the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 1995 and the Peterloo Poets Open Poetry Competition in 2001. He has been Chair of the editorial board of Wales’s leading literary journal, New Welsh Review, and is currently Programme Advisor to the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education’s MSt in Creative Writing and Director of its International Summer School in Creative Writing; he is an Affiliated Lecturer of the Institute. He is Director of Academic Programmes for the Financial Times Oxford Literary Festival and in 2014 spent four months as Writer in Residence at Arizona State University.

Reviews

[Aaron Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought to Light is a fine collection that evinces Professor Poster’s affection for Edward Thomas in their sensitive evocation of flora and fauna (‘sunlight falling / on the lawn, the flowerbeds, warming the creamy throat / and belly of next door’s tomcat as it drowses / beneath the buddleia’); highlights include the Carol Ann Duffy-esque ‘Dealing with Circe’ about Penelope’s resentment of Odysseus’ dalliance, and ‘Kingfisher’ wherein he takes on a time-worn topic with fresh phrases like ‘jinking / at the river’s turn’ (and plays with parentheses, as in ‘Spring’, thereby achieving a powerful effect) thereby achieving a powerful effect.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great poems. The collectors is one of my favourite poems ever.