The Revenant

Description

In The Revenant James Lasdun consolidates his reputation as a writer of rich, dense and carefully worked poems of gem-like brillance. Concerned with transformations and dislocations - both physical and emotional - the poems in James Lasdun's second collection speak exquisitely of desire and loss.Jetlagged, estranged, out of synch or out of kilter, the figures in these poems sometimes just miss each other, sometimes connect explosively. And under their feet - whether it's a Roman pavement, a hill-path in Mexico, a Surrey lawn or a New York street - there is always something primitive, turbulent, ready to reveal itself. Intellectually rigorous, musical and deftly formal these apparently classical poems blend a dark, erotic animus with an exhilarating wit.

James Lasdun's books include The Horned Man and Give Me Everything You Have: On Being Stalked. He teaches creative writing at Columbia University and reviews regularly for the Guardian. His work has been filmed by Bernardo Bertolucci (Besieged) and he co-wrote the films Sunday, which won Best Feature and Best Screenplay awards at Sundance, and Signs and Wonders, starring Charlotte Rampling and Stellan Skarsgard.

I'm filled with admiration, delight and gratitude at discovering James Lasdun's poems... He has wit, speed, intelligence, a keen eye, precision and imagination of the highest order -- Anthony Hecht A restlessly inventive mind -- Terry Eagleton * Literary Review *