'A twenty-year-old's expanding borders
are not of outstanding order.'
So says James Mcloughlin in Encore, his first collection of poetry. Much anticipated by those already familiar with his work, this impressive debut is heaving with fresh approaches to age-old rivalries - city, meet nature; self, meet society; dreams, meet reality. Switching with ease between piercing observation and boundless imagination, James writes with a clarity and wisdom beyond his years, as well as a wry, subversive sense of humour (as evidenced by the book's title). This is a unique opportunity to meet an emerging literary talent, and a striking new voice in British poetry.
"These poems seem born out of music and lyrics...out of a desire to bring forth poetry from the everyday. ‘To make layers is to calm’ we’re told...these poems might seem calm or direct on the surface but beneath are the layers, the tumult, the aggression, the sexuality and the ambiguity of 21st Century life."
Andrew McMillan
"There is such a joy in language to be found in this collection; words tumble over each other to express experience and insights. James is an impressive talent to cherish, and a hope for the future."
James Nash
James Mcloughlin was born in Southport, Merseyside, in 1990. Showing a keen interest in both reading and writing from an early age, it's perhaps no surprise that James is currently completing an English & Writing degree at Leeds Trinity University College. At the age of 16, James began writing lyrics for hastily thrown-together songs on his acoustic guitar. However, after realising he had 'all the singing talent of a haunted toad' (again, his words), James reclassified these lyrics as poems and began to write for the page in earnest. Since then James has produced over five hundred pages of poetry in various notebooks. Valley Press published his first collection, Encore, in 2011.