The Blind Roadmaker

by Ian Duhig

"Ian Duhig's eclectic enthusiasms and often laugh-out-loud wit make him poetry's answer to Stephen Fry." The GuardianIf the starting point for a number of poems in Ian Duhig's richly varied new collection is Sterne's Tristram Shandy, its presiding genius is the great eighteenth-century civil engineer, fiddler and polymath Blind Jack Metcalf - whose life Duhig here celebrates, and from whose example he draws great inspiration. Writing with an almost Burnsian eclecticism, Duhig explores urban poverty, determinism, social justice and the consolations of poetry and music on a journey that takes in everything from a riotous reimagining of Don Juan to the tragedy of Manuel Bravo (the Leeds asylum seeker from Angola who was forced to defend himself in court, and later took his own life). No poet today writes with such a sense of political and social conscience, and The Blind Roadmaker affirms Duhig's belief in poetry as a means of commemorating those who least deserve to be forgotten.

Genres: Poetry

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 9, 2016

About the author

Born to Irish parents, Duhig currently resides in Leeds.
He worked with homeless people for 15 years before becoming a full-time writer in 1994 and a concern with social issues continues to inform his work.
He has won the National Poetry Competition twice, and in 1994 was named as one of the Poetry Society's 'New Generation' Poets.

Reviews

[Gerard Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a range of subjects and forms – each poem seems to exhume some forgotten figure or minor character from the past or from literature, revives them and sets them to interpret the world of the present day. A poem in the voice of Langland, or a Korean Queen - one of the most affecting was a poem about his father and boxing. Ashtrayville was another favourite, which takes us through an imagined cityscape – and a good example of Duhig’s humour (you might try to negotiate the potholes/ though they are not open to negotiation)

[Mark Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

great allusive poetry from the north, full of riches that need digging out - like to the 18th road maker of Knaresborough Blind Jack Metcalf. Lines to savour and return to.