Slattern

by Kate Clanchy

These are poems about men and boys: married men, self-sufficient men, wounded men, and men 'who own/the earth and love it'; poems about memory and time, set in school classrooms and muddy sports fields; and haunting, tender love poems.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published January 29, 1996

About the author

Kate Clanchy was educated in Edinburgh and Oxford University. She lived in London's East End for several years, before moving to Buckinghamshire where she now works as a teacher, journalist and freelance writer. Her poetry and seven radio plays have been broadcast by BBC Radio. She is a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper; her work appeared in The Scotsman, the New Statesman and Poetry Review. She also writes for radio and broadcasts on the World Service and BBC Radio 3 and 4.

She is a Creative Writing Fellow of Oxford Brookes University and teaches Creative Writing at the Arvon Foundation. She is currently one of the writers-in-residence at the charity First Story. Her poetry has been included in A Book of Scottish Verse (2002) and The Edinburgh book of twentieth-century Scottish poetry (2006)

Reviews

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection by the poet and author Kate Clanchy. I discovered her last year when I read Some Kids I Taught And What They Taught Me, which was one of my favourite reads of last year. As I was reading this collection I kept marking down poems I would want to return to later to re-read or to share with people. By the time I'd finished over half the pages were marked. Funny, sometimes poignant and with some beautifully elegant lines.

[erris · Rating 3 out of 5]

hell yeah i finally finished this! a real slog
the best poems were: Double Take, Slatten, Men from the Boys, Can't Argue With It, Heroine, For Absent People: Andreas 1965-1992, Recognition.
but overall. medicore book

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new favourite.

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1996 to great acclaim, this collection explores relationships, loss, and womanhood. There is little about the themes of these poems that sets them apart, but Clanchy's use of language, particularly her understanding of verbs and of slant-rhyme, is very effective. These poems are not all successful -- some feel too generic, too pared back -- but when they are, they are very beautiful indeed.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Kate Clanchy. But I still find her collections a bit hit and miss. Well worth a look though.

[scarlettraces · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are MAGIC