Book description
'Cusp', this new collection from Graham Mort, features many of the
qualities readers have come to admire; keen observation, a feeling for
the natural world that echoes and enhances the human interactions in
his poems, the sense of the individual as part of a larger society of
which we are implicitly responsible. New here is a different sort of
line, which alternates short and longer lines in a step-like
formation, a terracing which propels the narratives along. Also
included is the remarkable, ambitious long poem, 'Electricity',
fizzing with riffs on its theme. Morts formal rigour, instinctive
compassion, and warm humanity shine through in this new book, the
first since his acclaimed Visibility: New and Selected Poems.
Graham Mort has had a lengthy career as a freelance writer and
artist in education, specialising in innovative combined arts
projects. He has taught writing courses for the Arvon Foundation and
Taliesin Trust and was director of studies for the Open College of the
Arts, extending distance learning though new technology. He lectures
in Creative Writing at Lancaster University where he directs the
Centre for Transcultural Writing and Research and has developed
writing projects in Africa for the British Council. Amongst his many
awards are the Edge Hill University Short Story Prize 2011 and the
Bridport Prize for the short story collection Touch (2010), Cheltenham
Poetry Competition first prize (twice), a major Eric Gregory Award,
two Duncan Lawrie prizes in the Arvon Foundation International Poetry
competition and a Poetry Book Society recommendation.
