Moderations

by Andy Wilson

Instead of decorating a spare bedroom as requested, Andy Wilson once stenciled Dylan Thomas' 'And death shall hold no dominion' in foot high letters across the wall. 'Who would not be impressed?' he smiles wryly. 'Poetry just fills you with that sort of unbounded feeling. Still, lesson learnt I have conformed by releasing my own poetry in book form.' His collection, 'Moderations', is the fulfillment of five years of work for the Hull poet. It is the best of over a thousand poems written against a shifting relief of life that has soared, crashed and soared again (death, life, infirmity, existential angst and all the usual suspects). In between writing a novel, three plays and two 'Potter's Field' books with folk singer Joe Solo, poetry has been an ongoing passion. 'If I had to choose I would keep writing poetry over all. There is a certain immediacy of return. You catch a moment, craft it and then wait for the next inspiration to come.' And the title? 'A nod to one of my heroes, AE Housman.' If you throw in Gerard Manley Hopkins, Ezra Pound, Charles Bukowski, Pablo Neruda and TS Eliot as other sources of inspiration you just about have the recipe for Wilson's poetry. So to sum yourself up? 'The type of poetry you might want to write in foot high letters across the nearest wall? Maybe.'

84 pages, Paperback

Published February 24, 2013