Tony Connor's tenth collection is framed by military encounters. In the first poem a young man grapples with a malfunctioning machine-gun, while the author grapples with the poem he is making from this event, memory or fantasy. In the surrealistic sequence that ends the book, a strange army invades a country collapsing into societal and semantic dissolution. Connor's abiding preoccupations continue into his eighties: his own life and the lives around him, passing time and its traps, poetry and its transfiguration of the commonplace. Yet all is not solemn as Connor extends his range into comic verse and dramatic dialogue. His new poems mix fantasy and reality in unexpected ways, always with the unobtrusive hand of a skilled craftsman.

About the Author
Since 1971 Tony Connor has lived partly in Middletown, Connecticut where he was a professor of English at Wesleyan University. He spends the summers in London. He left school at fourteen and worked in Manchester as a textile designer for many years.

Reviews
'His work is both original and entertaining... Connor does not simply report events. He vividly recreates them, shaping each scene with the skill and care of a novelist... his work remains clear-headed, intelligent and immensely readable.' Dana Gioia in 'The Hudson Review'



Book Information
ISBN 9780856464539
Author Tony Connor
Format Paperback
Page Count 128
Imprint Anvil Press Poetry
Publisher Carcanet Press Ltd