Staying Alive - Real Poems for Real Times, edited by Neil Astley (BloodAxe, £10.95)
It isn't very often that a poetry anthology comes in the post, and am I grateful for this one.
It features 500 poems from all over the world, collected under headings such as "Body and Soul", "Roads and Journeys" and "In and Out of Love".
Some are well-known, some are new, but each offers the potential for profound new insights into life.
Particularly powerful are some of the works in the "War and Peace" section. First World War poets such as Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen are joined by Paul Durcan, writing about the conflict in Northern Ireland, and Carolyn Forche, on the Vietnam conflict.
The appendices are a useful reference for those of us who have never heard of some of the poets, and whose understanding of poetic devices could use a little help - if you thought poems had to rhyme, this will be a real eye-opener.
Neil Astley has gathered together an awesome collection of poetry for our time. Annie Dendy.
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