Book description
Bevel is William Letford's first book, but his poems have already
earned him a large following thanks to his brilliant performances and
through Carcanet's New Poetries V anthology. Letford makes poems from
the rhythms of speech and the stuff of daily life: work and love,
seasons and cities, and his writing is alive with the wonder and
comedy of the mundane. Bevel is filled with voices Â- Â an he says / A
love the summer / it's hoat / ye kin wear yer shoarts...' Â- and with
the knowledge that becomes engrained in the body: Â The weight of a
drill. The texture of rust.' Letford works as a roofer, a trade that
gives him a particular perspective on life at ground level. Â Be
prepared,' he writes: pay attention to the moment, know which way to
fall. His poems are sure and strong, the words dance.
'The pleasure I have gained from William Letford's poems... will, I
am confident, stay with me forever.' -Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian
William Letford has worked as a roofer, on and off, since he was fifteen
years old. He has received a New Writer's Award from the Scottish Book
Trust and an Edwin Morgan Travel Bursary which allowed him to spend
three months in the mountains of northern Italy helping to restore a
medieval village. He has an M. Litt in Creative Writing from the
University of Glasgow.
