With his exuberant and otherworldly poems, Roddy Lumsden has quickly established himself among Britain’s leading younger poets. In this, his third book, the filmic tour de force of the title sequence, by turns comic, tragic and fantastic, follows the twists in a maze of madness, love and self-deception, from Edinburgh to Stoke Newington via the Philippines. The collection’s second half brings together new work with some favourite pieces which show why Lumsden is such a popular reader on both the literary and performance circuits.
“One of the most promising poets to have emerged (in the past decade). Lumsden has a nimble wit, formal elegance and great energy. He also has an appealing line in self-dramatization… anyone with the chutzpah to do that is worth watching.” Poetry Review
“There’s no pinning down Roddy Lumsden. He’s made of mercury. He slithers and flashes, falls on the floor and screams, re-groups in a string of shining droplets, which coalesce before your eyes into a buttonhole for Oscar Wilde… No matter what we are thinking about him, we may be sure he is thinking faster about us. Lumsden is a 21st century wit. He’s hip… Louis MaNeice comes to mind. From the moment you set out with him, going south… it’s a thrilling ride.” Hugo Williams, PBS Bulletin
“In poem after poem, one is aware that no-one, not even Lumsden himself, has written anything like this before… (He is) one of the very few poets whom one can plausibly compare with Auden… (He) has a temperamental affinity with Auden in that he understands instinctively that writing a poem is, first and foremost, a performance…” Laurie Smith, Magma