Blind Spots

Informed by a consciousness that is as fiercely personal and tender as it is public-minded and political, this compelling collection presents a wide range of poetry, from a sonnet, a sestina, and a villanelle, to a pantoum, a ghazal, or a fluid free verse poem. Divided into two parts, the book's first part contains a series of muse poems that are inspired by lines or images from the Italian poet, Eugenio Montale, and also influenced by the Hull-based poet, Philip Larkin. The central themes of these poemslonging, inspiration, unrequited desire, aging, changeare beautifully surmised in this important sequence. The second section varies between quick family portraits, pointed observations and musings on landscapes and seasons, several sharp political pieces, and poems that seek to unsettle prejudices and thwart conventional expectations.

Carol Rumens is a poet who has published more than a dozen collections of poetry, including Hex, Holding Pattern, and Poems 1964–2004. She is the chair of creative writing at the University of Bangor, and winner of the 2002 Peterloo Poetry Competition.