Thorpeness

There is something richly circumstantial about Alison Brackenbury's poems: they are often rooted in a rural world, or in townscapes which sustain communities and preserve a strong sense of their history and what it gives them. Thorpeness has delicious surprises, among them 'Aunt Margaret's Pudding', a rewarding culinary experience based on a black-covered handwritten notebook of recipes from Dorothy Eliza Barnes, 'Dot', the poet's grandmother. 'When I knew Dot, she was a Lincolnshire shepherd's wife. But, as a young woman, she had been an Edwardian professional cook,' the poet explains, making her notebook a resource for the contemporary reader.

The world of nature - birds, plants, weathers - comes alive in poem after poem, but there are also important poems of nurture. Brackenbury belongs in a long line of rural and provincial poets who bring England alive in forms and rhythms of renewal. She is a familiar radio voice, performing her won poems and narrating programmes she has scripted.

About the Author

Alison Brackenbury was born in Lincolnshire in 1953. She has published nine collections of poetry. Her work has been awarded an Eric Gregory Award and a Cholmondeley Award by the Society of Authors. For over thirty years, her poems have appeared in Britain’s major poetry journals. She also reviews poetry for a wide range of publications. Her work has frequently been featured on BBC Radio, and she has written six full-length radio features, including ‘Singing in the Dark’, about the stubborn survival of traditional song, which was a ‘Radio Times’ Choice. She contributes regularly to Radio 4’s arts programme, ‘Front Row’, and has recently read her work live on Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme.