The Missing

Salt Modern Poets

by Siân Hughes

WINNER SEAMUS HEANEY CENTRE PRIZE FOR POETRYSHORTLISTED FOR THE FELIX DENNIS PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST COLLECTION FORWARD POETRY PRIZES 2009Poetry Bank Choice and Poetry Book Society Recommendation. In 2006 'The Send-Off', an elegy for a lost child, was broadcast on Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 and the issues it raised - ante-natal testing, grief, guilt, the family, women's lives - raged on for weeks in blogs and notice boards. But no one wondered what the poem was about. It was crystal clear. The poems in Sian Hughes debut collection, The Missing are direct and emotional. They do not hide behind imagery. They deal head on with the heart of shame, with parenting, illness, loss, regret and falling in love with the wrong people.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2009

Reviews

[Elidor Stratton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a dear friend and I will always be greatful for his kindness in giving me such a wonderful present.
Sian Hughes is an amazing poet. This book of poems is real and very moving and is about a life lived and felt to the core. Read cover-to-cover it tells a story so real and so full of truth it sings from every page. If you love poetry as much as I do please I beg you read her work!

[Ellie (bookmadbarlow) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first proper poetry collection I have read, so rating this is difficult. I felt that some of the poems really spoke to me and were really emotive, whereas others I didn't connect with at all.
I think it is a book that needs to be reread on occasions to understand fully each one.
The collection covers big themes including death, parenting and relationships so may be triggering for some people.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some lines or sets of lines in individual poems that made me stop in my tracks and ones that I really liked, but none of the poems particularly worked for me as a whole and I thought it was a busy, disjointed collection. I think it's just a case of this not being the style of poetry for me and me not enjoying the reading experience as a result.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sian was my creative writing tutor at Oxford. A wonderful teacher, I had no idea how talented a poet she was until I read her collection. Moving, heartbreaking, and unflinchingly honest, it is a book that stays with you.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection. Not all the poems spoke to me but I found myself deeply moved by most of them. A book I will be coming back to savour on a regular basis.

[S.B. Wright]

Review forthcoming