{"title":"Paul Henry","description":"Paul Henry was born in Aberystwyth in 1959. He currently lives in Gwent with his wife and three sons. Originally a singer-songwriter, he combines freelance writing with working as a Careers Adviser. In 1989 he received an Eric Gregory Award.\n\nPaul Henry reads his poems: 'Daylight Robbery' from [url=http:\/\/www.inpressbooks.co.uk\/captive_audience_paul_henry_i020240.aspx]Captive Audience[\/url] and 'The Black Guitar' from [url=http:\/\/www.inpressbooks.co.uk\/ingrids_husband_paul_henry_i020279.aspx]Ingrid's Husband[\/url]:\n\n[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KPxo2YSRihc[\/youtube]","products":[{"product_id":"oxygen-new-poets-from-wales","title":"Oxygen: New Poets from Wales","description":"Celebrating the current resurgence of poetry by writers under 45 in Wales, \u003ci\u003eOxygen\u003c\/i\u003e is a snapshot of recently established and exciting new talent writing in both the languages of Wales. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUrban and rural, ironic and earnest, lyrical and lively, the poetry reveals there is plenty to get excited about. It may not be Cool Cymru but poetry is definitely edging towards the new rock and roll in Welsh writing. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eContributors include Gwyneth Lewis, Oliver Reynolds, Paul Henry, Sarah Corbett, Kate Bingham, Owen Sheers, Frances Williams, Catherine Fisher, Don Rodgers and others in English, and Gwyneth Lewis (again!), Ifor ap Glyn, Twm Morys, Elin ap Hywel, Meirion McIntyre Huws, Elin Llwyd Morgan and others in Welsh. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThirty new poets in all, ready to roll over Offa's Dyke.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Book","offer_id":1040995620,"sku":"9781854112842","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/2_2_0d275c63-6984-4609-a2a8-ff8c0a108928.jpeg?v=1752237516"},{"product_id":"the-brittle-sea","title":"The Brittle Sea","description":"For two decades Paul Henry has been quietly building an oeuvre of beautifully crafted poems. Born into a family of musicians, music pervades his poems on childhood, as do a large cast of aunts, neighbours, friends and relations, many of whom appear in Dylan Thomas-like character sketches. Some of his earliest portrait-poems are set against the Breconshire villages where Henry lived from his mid teens; a move south to Newport inspires poems about the undulating river Usk and the post-industrial cityscape. And, by popular request, in the ‘new poems’ section, rugby fans will find the three poems Henry was commissioned to write for BBC2’s ‘Poetry in Motion’, which celebrated the Welsh national rugby team as they prepared for the 2008 Rugby World Cup.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Paul Henry is the poet I wish I could be. If I ever meet a genie and get three wishes, I’m asking for his musicality, his use of back-story and his ability to create the most haunting resonance.” \u003cbr\u003eSheenagh Pugh\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“His poems possess... unpretentious clarity and directness... Henry is a very fine poet.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAgenda\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaul Henry\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Aberystwyth and came to poetry through songwriting. Described by the late U.A. Fanthorpe as “a poet’s poet” who combines “a sense of the music of words with an endlessly inventive imagination”, his work has been widely anthologised and regularly appears in journals as diverse as \u003ci\u003ePoetry Wales\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e. His other collections, all published by Seren, are \u003ci\u003eIngrid’s Husband\u003c\/i\u003e (2007), \u003ci\u003eThe Breath of Sleeping Boys and other poems\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Slipped Leash\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Milk Thief\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCaptive Audience\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTime Pieces\u003c\/i\u003e. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 1989. He ran the Ledbury Festival’s Poetry Cafe at Hereford’s Courtyard Theatre. A regular tutor at Ty Newydd, Wales’s national writers’ centre, he also works as an associate lecturer at the University of Glamorgan and as a radio presenter for BBC Wales. He lives in Crickhowell, Powys.","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Book","offer_id":1040995804,"sku":"9781854115249","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/2_2_bbfbcb71-5565-4d39-bac7-37afb63b5f06.jpeg?v=1752237675"},{"product_id":"poetry-wales-winter-200910","title":"Poetry Wales - Winter 2009\/10","description":"Features include ‘Mongoose Music’ – Robert Minhinnick on translation in a conflict zone, farming and harmonics in Carol Watts’ \u003ci\u003eZeta Landscapes\u003c\/i\u003e, and Nerys Williams on the longer poems of Robert Minhinnick, Gwyneth Lewis and John James.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePoems from Paul Henry, Sheenagh Pugh, John Powell Ward, Peter Gill, David Kennedy, Chris Pusateri, Omar Sabbagh, Christopher James, Nigel Jarrett, Kona MacPhee, Alison Brackenbury, Pete Marshall, Jim Goar, Ioana Nicolaie (translated by Adam Sorkin and Irma Giannetti), Robert Nisbet, Mark Goodwin, Elisabeth Rowe, John Fraser Williams, Kate Potts, Anna Woodford, Steve Griffiths, Yoko Minamikawa Adams, T.H. Parry Williams (translated by Richard Poole), Daljit Nagra, Neal Alexander, Alice Homewood, Graham Hartill, Paul Yandle, Steven Waling, Chris Bendon, Simon Perril, and Meirion Jordan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the Reviews section, Frances Presley looks at Bunting and Mulford; Jon Gower on \u003ci\u003eBanerog\u003c\/i\u003e by Hywel Griffith; John Powell Ward reviews Dannie Abse’s \u003ci\u003eNew Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e and Joseph Clancy’s \u003ci\u003ePassing Through\u003c\/i\u003e; Patrick McGuinness on collections from Will Stone and Paul Batchelor; Richard Gwyn on collections from Carrie Etter and Claire Crowther; Phil Maillard on William Walton Rowe’s study of Harwood, Torrance and MacSweeney; and Alison Brackenbury on a ‘granary of stories’ from Sheenagh Pugh and Gillian Clarke’s \u003ci\u003eRecipe for Water\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Book","offer_id":1041041224,"sku":"9770032220363","price":5.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/2_2_fac8488d-b0e9-48db-8dff-188fb86b32a8.jpeg?v=1752236545"},{"product_id":"ingrids-husband","title":"Ingrid's Husband","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Guardian's Poem of the Week, 8th November 2010\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Black Guitar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eClearing out ten years from a wardrobe\u003cbr\u003eI opened its lid and saw Joe\u003cbr\u003ewritten twice in its dust, in a child's hand,\u003cbr\u003ethen a squiggled seagull or two.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                                    Joe, Joe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea man's tears are worth nothing,\u003cbr\u003ebut a child's name in the dust, or in the sand\u003cbr\u003eof a darkening beach, that's a life's work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI touched two strings, to hear how much\u003cbr\u003etwo lives can slip out of tune\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                                then I left it,\u003cbr\u003ebrought down the night on it, for fear, Joe\u003cbr\u003eof hearing your unbroken voice, or the sea\u003cbr\u003eif I played it.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere is a book of ghosts, from the mysterious traveller in the title poem who, mistaken for another man, starts to crave his new alter ego, to the first person of 'Between Two Bridges', Henry's long poem on Newport, who follows his teenage ghost across the city for a night:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHe pulls away. The wind puts its lips to an arcade.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA seagull on a barber’s pole waits to open its blades.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHow the living haunt themselves is the concern of \u003ci\u003eIngrid's Husband\u003c\/i\u003e, and the author discovers his spirits through an imagery of absences: a child's signature in the dust of an old guitar; the stone plinth where a café once stood; a white balloon drifting down a shopping arcade; a chateau, still furnished with the belongings of its vanished owner…\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLove continues to underscore the commonplace in Paul Henry's fifth collection and this lyric poet’s distinctive voice continues to haunt its readers.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eIngrid's Husband\u003c\/i\u003e showcases Henry's eye for striking imagery… \u003ci\u003eIngrid's Husband\u003c\/i\u003e succeeds as a powerful meditation on loss, and its tentative, never fully realised, attempts at renewal are always affecting… there's more than enough fine writing in this volume to reward sustained attention.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Welsh Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Henry's poems work through images deftly juxtaposed; they evoke a world of fleeting memories and echo the processes of intuitive thought… Paul Henry can be mischievously perceptive of the danger lurking behind appearances.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePoetry Salzburg\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Paul Henry's lyrical poems achieve perfect pitch, matching sound to sense with, seemingly a minimum of effort. In \u003ci\u003eIngrid's Husband\u003c\/i\u003e, his fifth collection from Seren, musicality of line is evident throughout.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePoetry Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"With the purity of a sixteenth-century poet, Paul Henry lets fall his beautiful lyrics like cloaks in the mud of every day. Effortless epiphanies and images gradually break open, releasing a strange power, a dark ocean of longing and loss. His poetry deepens our perception of the world.\"\u003cbr\u003eHugo Williams\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"A poet's poet, Paul Henry gets maximum effect from minimum language. The ordinary becomes alive with possibility, comic, moving, magical, compassionate. A sense of the music of words combines with an endlessly inventive imagination.\"\u003cbr\u003eU.A. Fanthorpe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What I hate about this book is the fact that I didn't write it.\"\u003cbr\u003eSheenagh Pugh\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaul Henry\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Aberystwyth in 1959. He currently lives in Gwent with his wife and three sons. Originally a singer-songwriter, he combines freelance writing with working as a Careers Adviser. In 1989 he received an Eric Gregory Award.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Book","offer_id":1041042336,"sku":"9781854114389","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/2_2_2427d711-d676-4fce-a1fd-b3f7e7f69725.jpeg?v=1752237032"},{"product_id":"poetry-wales-autumn-2011","title":"Poetry Wales - Autumn 2011","description":"\u003cb\u003eFeatures\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOut into the unknown: Gwyneth Lewis and Science by Alex Pryce\u003cbr\u003eThe Parable of Tristan Tzara and the Callow Youth by Lee Harwood\u003cbr\u003eJohn James and J.H. Prynne by Peter Robinson \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePoems\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRebecca Perry, Stephen Knight, Lowri Emlyn, Dafydd John Pritchard translated by Eurig Salisbury, Ian Davidson, John Kinsella, Robert Sheppard, Peter Jaeger, Ian Seed, Chris Emery, Lee Duggan, Philip Gross, Siriol Troup, Emily Hinshelwood, Paul Henry, Chris Bendon, Jim Goar, Richard Owens, Nathan Thompson, Krystyna Milobedzka translated by Elzebieta Wojcik-Leese, Peter Hughes, Mario Petrucci, Christien Gholson, David Foster-Morgan.\t\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlison Brackenbury on Nerys Williams and Kelly Grovier \u003cbr\u003eGraham Hartill on the Heat poets CD\u003cbr\u003eRobert Sheppard on Carol Watts and Caroline Bergvall\u003cbr\u003eKaren Owen on Menna Elfyn\u003cbr\u003eZoë Brigley on \u003ci\u003eSlanderous Tongues\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eClaire Crowther on John Goodby’s \u003ci\u003eA True Prize\u003c\/i\u003e, and Andrea Bianchi, translated by Silvana Siverio\u003cbr\u003eMatthew Jarvis on John Barnie’s \u003ci\u003eA Year of Flowers\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Book","offer_id":1041048560,"sku":"9770032220363","price":5.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/2_2_e8c1fa05-d33a-4311-8df0-1ce1a4ebe5ba.jpeg?v=1752236543"},{"product_id":"boy-running","title":"Boy Running","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for Wales Book of the Year 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Paul Henry’s lyrical poems achieve perfect pitch, matching sound to sense with, seemingly a minimum of effort.” Alice Kavounas,\u003cem\u003e Poetry Review\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCut adrift by marital break-up, the poet must sort through the emotional fallout and the various ‘chattels’ left behind; a sea of characteristic props: tables, lamps, metronomes, pianos, guitars. The poet’s sons are at the heart of this collection where pathos is balanced by humour amidst the characters of a small country town.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":1140063676,"sku":"9781781722268","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/Seren_-_Boy_Running_New_cover.png?v=1752240416"},{"product_id":"glass-aisle","title":"The Glass Aisle","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe title poem of \u003ci\u003eThe Glass Aisle\u003c\/i\u003e, Paul Henry’s tenth collection of verse, is about the displacement of former workhouse residents and set on a stretch of canal in the Brecon Beacons National Park.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA performance version of The Glass Aisle, featuring songs co-written with Brian Briggs (‘Stornoway’) is currently touring UK festivals.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":1971620085769,"sku":"9781781724408","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/original_c7ba104b-7196-4687-a196-0728e1631448.jpg?v=1752240263"},{"product_id":"as-if-to-sing","title":"As If To Sing","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe power of song, to sustain the human spirit, resonates through this new collection from Paul Henry.  In 'Cave Songs', a trapped caver, haunted by a 'ghost choir', crawls back through songs to the sea; Welsh soldiers in 'As if to Sing', pack their hearts into a song, on the eve of the Battle of Passchendaele, 'for safe-keeping'; a woman's grief is 'unconscious of its song' and a child sings 'a song with no beginning or end' as father and son cross a bridge in the mist.\u003c\/p\u003e               \n\n\u003cp\u003eLike the 'river’s trick' in Nightlines, 'at once moving and still', past and present share the same lyric moment in Henry’s work, the same 'torchsong' of music and light.\u003c\/p\u003e \n\n \u003cp\u003eA familiar surrealism pervades 'The Key to Penllain', the collection’s longest poem, set in the 1960’s. Its time-bending dream-sequence sees Greek gods sunbathing on a Ceredigion beach while two children dig for a key that could save the planet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFull of the musical lyricism admired by readers and fellow poets alike, 'As if to Sing' is an essential addition to this poet's compelling body of work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Seren","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39711592480846,"sku":"9781781726600","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0441\/7369\/products\/original_72e76564-2730-4a5c-9f98-9be737b2427e.jpg?v=1752239970"}],"url":"https:\/\/inpressbooks.co.uk\/collections\/paul-henry\/chris-emery.oembed","provider":"Inpress Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}