All the Poems You Need to Say Hello

by Kate Clanchy

There is no way more appropriate to mark a new arrival than with poetryand in this profoundly celebratory book, poet and columnist Kate Clanchy has made an inspired choice of poems that speak powerfully of the wonder, joy, bewilderment, and mystery that new life brings. Charting the whole process from conception through to pregnancy and birth, All the Poems You Need to Say Hello is perfect for expectant parentsand an ideal gift for new parents. Poems from across the centuries by men and womenfrom Sharon Olds and Helen Dunmore to Seamus Heaney and William Blakechart the whole experience, mirroring the ups and downs and moments of despair and joy.

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2004

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)