Roddy Lumsden is one of the liveliest and most inventive poets writing in Britain today. From the formal, frenetic debut Yeah Yeah Yeah, through the playful wit and cynicism of The Book of Love, to the 'magnificent song to himself' of Roddy Lumsden is Dead, his poetic journey has already been eventful and he remains fascinated by the intrigues of men and women and the short steps from real life to folklore to the surreal. Mischief Night brings together the best work from Roddy Lumsden's three previous collections, as well as a whole new collection, The Drowning Man. It also contains poems from his pamphlet The Bubble Bride and the previously uncollected sonnet sequence Cavoli Riscaldati. 'Sharp, bright and utterly heart-breaking, this collection by one of the most intriguing voices is alternatingly roguish, curmudgeonly, insecure, and tender. The speaker woos and teases, cajoles and repels, withdrawing before beginning again. Though the poems offer no utopian promise, no deliverance, they cut to the quick with the difficult truth of longing, need, and the 'salt of hopelessness'.' - Monique Tschofen, New Delta Review 'There are tremendous narrative poems, mysterious, lingering ones' and unforgettably realistic tales of melancholy sexual encounters 'Lumsden is a brilliant vivisect or and pathologist of the contemporary relationship' all we can ask for in poetry: contemplation, intelligence, stylistic beauty. Like a spreadsheet of a morality adventure, like perfectly articulated pain's helpless celebration of Life's adventures' - Alan Warner, Scotsman.
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So many, so many songs for the suicides, for the lives docked in middle age; THE TREMENDOUS FEW
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(@BloodaxeBooks, 30 October 2014, first published 1 November 2004, e-book, 176 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I'm familiar with the poet's work through his poetry in various anthologies over the years, mostly from @BloodaxeBooks but I've never read a full collection. I really enjoyed this collection. It's always risky reading a New & Selected collection from a poet you've not really been exposed to before. Sometimes it works and you discover a new poet. But sometimes it doesn't work. Thankfully, it worked this time. I discovered a new poet I enjoyed and want to read more of. His style is very different than anything I've read. There's nothing worse than reading several poets who are echoes of each other. There is a rhythm to his poetry that I really enjoyed. The best poems are Rain at Night, Hotel Showers of the World, My Limbo, Always, Grief and The World's End.
