Inroads

by Carolyn Jess-Cooke

Intelligent and humorous, this debut collection showcases multi-faceted and often paradoxical poetry from a talented female writer. Touching upon various topics—from the versatility of language and modern cable TV shows to the difficulties of childhood and the power of maternal love—this compilation brilliantly utilizes satire and metaphor to evoke both laughter and heartbreak. Fans of poetry and women writers will enjoy discovering this striking new voice.

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, Paperback

First published February 22, 2010

About the author

C.J. (Carolyn) Cooke is an acclaimed, award-winning poet, novelist and academic with numerous publications as Carolyn Jess-Cooke and Caro Carver. Her work has been published in twenty-three languages to date. Born in Belfast, C.J. has a PhD in Literature from Queen’s University, Belfast, and is currently Reader in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she also researches the impact of motherhood on women’s writing and creative writing interventions for mental health. Her books have been reviewed in The New York Times, The Guardian, Good Housekeeping, and the Daily Mail. She has been nominated for an Edgar Award and an ITW Thriller Award, selected as Waterstones’ Paperback Book of the Year and a BBC 2 Pick, and has had two Book of the Month Club selections in the last year. She lives in Scotland with her husband and four children.

Reviews

[Helen Skene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clever but cold. I want poetry to touch my soul; this did not.

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a clever, engaging collection of contemporary poetry - I found myself totally absorbed and reading each poem again and again to really capture the magic of it. The poems are so well-written and the themes can really be related to.

It's hard to pick my favourites but I loved "Second-Hand Words", "Dorothy's Homecoming" and "Aeneas Finds Dido on YouTube".