Kirjahaku

Through the figure of Punch, Burlesque explores themes of identity and the roles imposed on us through circumstance and conditioning. The figure of Punch stands as an icon, the 'paradigm and picture of the age', challenging conventions of how and what we see and feel. The second part examines the way creativity shapes our view of ourselves, the masks we wear, often unconsciously, and how we strive to come to terms with the human condition. Wry humour and irony in the face of suffering and mortality are threads, as well as moments of compassion.

Light Airs confirms Mick Evans as an exceptional poet whose linguistic dexterity in making every phrase work on multiple levels is matched by his impressive range of references. Whether the metaphors are of love or change, hubris or the banality of evil, the control and voice is always unerring, the precision always honed and intelligent. There are poems here that will chill and unsettle the reader and poems of exquisite tenderness. What unites them is there is never a complacent, sentimental or glib word. These are poems of depth and passion threaded with humane humour. Pushing at the boundaries of form, Light Airs is an inventive, honest and distinctive collection that will resonate long after reading.

Mick Evans is a writer who takes risks. Never content to remain static, the voice is increasingly explorative, increasingly nuanced and possessed of a compassion that is also clear-sighted. The feel for language, the lyrical pulse, the acuteness of observation and the range and depth of references are signature features of Mick Evans' work. But with each new collection the reach is extended. There are poems here that unsettle or warn, that celebrate or remember, that surprise and delight, poems that make us laugh or wonder… and always there is love — not sentiment, not nostalgia, but permeable, authentic, love in all its shades of grief and joy.

When accomplished poet, Mick Evans, turns his attention to prose, we might know that what we will be reading will be surprising, original and brimming with humanity. Short Cuts might have been written with a dagger masquerading as a pen or pen wrestling with its dagger within. The result is intense, immersive and lyrical. These extraordinary pieces explore a landscape of extreme emotion that might, at first sight, appear to come from a chaotic imagination, but which soon reveal an acute intelligence and quick wit at work across the range of human feeling. The granular attention to human flaws and quirks, observed with as much compassion as honesty, and written with such inventiveness and style makes Short Cuts a compelling and unmissable collection.