Swift

In Jennie Feldman's second collection, the earth-shy bird of the title flies high above the territorial rivalries of its region, the Middle East. Swiftfocuses on what compels and coheres, with an instinct for encounter: a Greek beekeeper, a cello maestro, a Latin poet in an East Jerusalem cafe. Buoyed by water and the power of music, these poems pursue an elusive equilibrium. How the mind accompanies the body's faltering, hallucination where reverie should be . . . Jennie Feldmanwas born in South Africa, grew up in London, and studied French at Oxford. She lives in Jerusalem.

Jennie Feldman was born in South Africa, grew up in London and graduated from Oxford, where she studied French. A Hawthornden Fellow, she lives in Jerusalem and Oxford. Her first collection, The Lost Notebook, was also published by Anvil, as were her translations from Jacques Réda, Treading Lightly: Selected Poems 1961-1975, and the bilingual anthology Into the Deep Street: Seven Modern French Poets 1938-2008, co-edited and translated with Stephen Romer and shortlisted for the Popescu Prize 2011.