Collected Poems by John James

Collected Poems by John James

John James is one of the most highly respected poets of his generation. In this volume all his major works are gathered together from Mmm ... Ah Yes (1967) to Schlegel Eats a Bagel (1996). In addition, a number of hard to obtain poems are also reprinted, including A Former Boiling (1979) and The Ghost of Jimi Hendrix at Stokesay Castle (1988).

Impossibly romantic and optimistic, miraculously avoiding gloom and didacticism to achieve a continuously surprising and euphoric surface.. related to ... classic simplicity of line.

-- Andrew Duncan

This is 'out and about' poetry, inhabiting Cambridge pubs and Eastern European streets, embracing non-sequiturs and apparently-random thoughts into the smooth thought-flow of event and image and speculation. There's a libidinal energy which resists gloom (hatred of the meagre portion/even the bars are closed when we leave the cinema) and the occasional break into what could almost be song lyric.

-- Steve Spence * Terrible work *

John James is an extremely enjoyable and charismatic poet. His work is like a vigorous breath of fresh air, full of variety, humour and surprise. It has a strong sense of lyricism and energy, a striking mixture of the experimental and the immediate that brings to mind the work of Mayakovsky or the New York poets of the 1950s and 60s.

-- Charles Bainbridge * The Guardian *

John James was born 1939 in Cardiff and educated by the De La Salle Brothers at Saint Illtyd’s College there. He left in 1957 to read Philosophy and English Literature at the University of Bristol and later undertook postgraduate studies in American Literature at the University of Keele. He was a founder of The Resuscitator in Bristol in 1963 and Arts Council Creative Writing Fellow, University of Sussex, 1978–79. He was Head of Communication Studies at Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge. He won a Cholmondeley Award in 2014. He died in 2018.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781876857400
ISBN 10	1876857404
Title	Collected Poems
Author	John James
Series	Salt Modern Poets
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Salt Publishing
Year published	2002-09-30
Number of pages	380
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.