Same Difference by Ben Wilkinson
Same Difference is the formally acute second collection from poet and critic Ben Wilkinson. Carefully crafted yet charged with contemporary language, the poems experiment with poetic voice and the dramatic monologue, keeping the reader on their toes and asking just who is doing the talking. Tough, gritty, and often moving, this is a collection for our times. An understanding of the human spirit and the complexity of relationships underpin these poems. Brimming with everyone from cage fighters and boy-racers to cancer patients and whales in captivity, Wilkinson unpicks the preconceptions and prejudices that inform our encounters with the world. He casts a scrutinising eye on the mystery of failed and successful relationships, male depression, the history of meat eating. He takes a sideways glance at sport, particularly the rewards of running, to which he is a noted devotee, and the philosophy behind athletic competition. Throughout, he ‘steps into the shoes’ of French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). Finding affinity with Verlaine’s astringent tone and ruthless clarity, Wilkinson borrows his ‘punchy and musical’ phrasing to reframe Verlaine’s voice for modern readers. Seeking to undermine the confessional mode throughout, Wilkinson often weaves his arguments with traditional rhyme and metre. This formally elegant, wide-ranging collection sits firmly in the twenty-first century.
Ben Wilkinson lives in Sheffield, Yorkshire. His poems and criticism regularly appear in national publications including The Guardian, New Statesman, The Poetry Review, The Spectator, and the Times Literary Supplement. His debut full collection of poems, ‘Way More Than Luck’, was published by Seren in 2018 and won a Northern Writers Award. A critical study, ‘Don Paterson: Writers and their Work’, is appearing in 2021. With Kim Moore and Paul Deaton he co-edited ‘The Result Is What You See Today’ (2019), an anthology of poems about running. He lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Bolton.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781781726488 |
| ISBN 10 | 1781726485 |
| Title | Same Difference |
| Author | Ben Wilkinson |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Poetry Wales Press |
| Year published | 2022-02-28 |
| Number of pages | 64 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |