PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
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Reviews of Staying Human, Shadow of the Owl and The Wreck of the Fathership
by Andy Croft
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
THREE strong new titles from the consistently brilliant Bloodaxe Books. Staying Human (Bloodaxe, £12.99), is the fourth of Neil Astley’s block-busting and best-selling Staying Alive anthologies of “real poems for unreal times.”
Bloodaxe has done more than any publisher over the last 40 years to internationalise, democratise and diversify the British poetry scene. Their list is wide and their anthologies are packed with unexpected and new voices. This one includes over 500 poems from all over the world.
It’s a book to dip in and out of, but worth buying just for the contributions of Sasha Dugdale, Roger Robinson, Anne Stevenson, Amarjit Chandan, David Constantine, Hannah Lowe, Martin Espada (Puerto Rico/US), Tatamkhulu Afrika (South Africa), Justyna Bargielska (Poland), Matthew Dickman (USA), Bejan Matur (Turkey) and Nikola Madzirov (Macedonia).
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