A Hundred Birds
Poems
Matthew Thorburn author Ava Leavell Haymon editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Louisiana State University Press
Publishing:16th Mar '27
£14.99
This title is due to be published on 16th March, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
In A Hundred Birds, his poignant new collection of poems, Matthew Thorburn explores the worries and wonders that make up the middle of life. Caught in the in-between, these are poems that look in two directions: at the poet's son growing up too quickly; and at his parents growing older so swiftly, and his father dying. With his characteristic love of life's particulars, Thorburn honors both the fading past and the fleeting present through his clear-eyed focus on what we hold tight, and how our memories bind us to those we love and make us who we are.
"Plainspoken and pared down, A Hundred Birds is a meditation on memory where flashes of joy and new life highlight a grappling with grief, loss, and the passage of time. Like the 'bird-like shadows' of a wife's hands, or the flickering fireflies that 'mean and keep meaning,' here is an aching that both comforts and haunts. Matthew Thorburn's work exerts a quiet power—humane and searching as the ghosts in his poems."—Tina Cane
"Captured within the breathtaking luminosity of Thorburn's words are the beauty and value of the ordinary lived life and the persistence of the humble human spirit. I urge you to read these haunting and haunted poems by a visionary poet who reveals the connections between body and soul on every page because this book's unforgettable revelations will change you."—Yerra Sugarman
"The title poem of Thorburn's stunning new book features a tree with 'a hundred birds exploding out, when you thought it was . . . empty,' but surprise and discovery mark every poem. Examining family, memory, and art, Thorburn writes, 'I love / and must find a way to keep loving'; he must be like the ancient clay figure unearthed unbroken, 'that revenant / left whole because he kneels.'"—Suzanne Cleary
ISBN: 9780807188873
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 5mm
Weight: unknown
78 pages