The Luck

A new collection from Jane Routh, author of Circumnavigation, shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and Teach Yourself Mapmaking, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. After lockdowns have swept calendars clear, leaf-fall, early sunrise and gales are Jane Routh's measures of time, as she goes about her tasks in the hill pasture and woodlands where she has the luck to live. With sharp, lyrical description and down-to earth understanding, her poems consider the flora and fauna around her, formative moments and lifespans – as well as the dead who won't be forgotten. Her elegant and informed writing conveys a sense of belonging in a particular place and the care for its future, carrying a universal resonance.