Sean O'Brien is widely acknowledged as one of the most gifted English poets now writing, and as a leading poet-critic. Cousin Coat collects the best of O'Brien's work to date; long-time O'Brien aficionados will be grateful to have so much of the early work available again, while recent converts will be delighted to find that O'Brien's boisterous wit, intelligence and astonishing technical fluency were as much in evidence at the outset of his career as they are now.

While some of O'Brien's mises en scene and dramatis personae have remained constant over the years - the urban dystopia, the train, the rain, the underground, the canal, the lugubrious procession of conductors, policemen, head teachers and detectives - their shadows have deepened with O'Brien's sense of their historicity and mythic power. His imaginative landscape has become impressively varied: as well as blackly paranoid fantasy and scabrous political critique, O'Brien's work now encompasses English pastoral, comic set-piece and metaphysical lyric, and shows a growing fascination with song-form and dramatic verse. Cousin Coat represents the best introduction to one of the most significant English poets of the last thirty years.

'The bard of urban Britain' The Times

'A collection which holds numerous satisfactions for anyone with a sense of humour and a political consciousness' Guardian on Ghost Train

'The most invigorating new book of poems I've read this year' Sunday Telegraph on Downriver

About the Author
Sean O'Brien's poetry has received numerous awards, including the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize (three times), the E.M Forster Award and the Roehampton Poetry Prize. His Collected Poems appeared in 2012. Europa is his ninth collection. His work has been published in several languages. His novel Once Again Assembled Here was published in 2016. He is also a critic, editor, translator, playwright and broadcaster. Born in London, he grew up in Hull. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews
'The bard of urban Britain' THE TIMES 'The most invigorating new book of poems l've read this year' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH Telegraph 'Vitally engaged and engaging poetry' TLS



Book Information
ISBN 9780330490979
Author Sean O'Brien
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Picador
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 249g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 127mm * 13mm