The Drowned Book

by Sean O'Brien

Overview

Many of the poems in Sean O’Brien’s new collection take their emotional tenor and imaginative cue from his acclaimed translation of Dante’s Inferno, and occupy a dark, flooded, subterranean world, as dramatically compelling as it is disquieting. Circumstances have compelled O’Brien to return repeatedly to the elegiac form, and The Drowned Book contains a number of powerfully moving poems written in memory of fellow poets and artists. The Drowned Book again shows O’Brien as master of the authoritative line, and underscores his pre-eminence among contemporary English poets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447294030
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan
Publication date:	09/01/2015
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Sean O’Brien is a poet, critic, playwright, broadcaster, anthologist, and editor. He is a professor of poetry at Sheffield Hallam University and teaches on the MA writing course. His five collections of poetry to date have all won awards, most recently Downriver, which won the Forward Prize for best collection. He is also the author of Cousin Coat: Selected Poems 1976-2001, a verse translation of Dante's Inferno, The Deregulated Muse, and The Firebox: Poetry In Britain And Ireland After 1945.

Editorial Reviews

"Compelling, with a steady incandescence to the language."  —Independent, on Dante’s Inferno


"All life is written in Dante’s burning pages, and Sean O’Brien is to be congratulated on his expert rehabilitation of a classic."  —Spectator, on Dante’s Inferno


"Combines urgent readability with a muscular forcefulness."  —The Economist, on Dante’s Inferno

From the Publisher