An Arbitrary Light Bulb
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pan Macmillan
Published:14th Nov '24
Should be back in stock very soon
A brilliant new collection from one of Britain's finest contemporary poets.
A brilliant, meditative collection from one of Britain's finest contemporary poets.
A Telegraph Poetry Book of the Year
A Poetry Book Society Choice
'"Accessible complexity" is not an oxymoron in Duhig's work . . . This [is] Duhig's most moving book, full of memorable poetry not just of skill but of heart' – Graeme Richardson, Sunday Times
An Arbitrary Light Bulb is Ian Duhig’s most personal collection of poems to date. It takes its title from the most common type of household bulb – yet one whose name is virtually unknown, like many people these poems celebrate.
Duhig finds in the arbitrary an image for the randomness of inspiration and of life, haunted here by deaths of family and friends. He laments the lost but also responds to the glories of our existence, especially among the overlooked, with humour, technical variety and contagious pleasure.
Starting out from ‘contrary Leeds’, his home for half a century, Duhig’s poems roam widely through history, art-forms, loves and injustices, fired by the desire to share it all with his readers: knowledge, joy, anger and wonder.
'Multifarious and maverick, deeply personal and political, Duhig’s poetic vision alchemises the heart and mind. This is a brilliant collection from a balladeer of our times, a poet who stands for the people, always with a sense of compassion, humility and wry humour' Jennifer Lee Tsai, Guardian
The most original poet of his generation -- Carol Ann Duffy * Guardian *
Duhig telescopes topical allusions, scholarly references and coarse humour into tightly-shaped, surreal poems which burst open with explosive moral force -- Alan Brownjohn, The Sunday Times
His poetry is learned, rude, elegant, sly and funny, mixing gilded images, belly-laughs and esoteric lore about language (including Irish), art, history, politics and children's word-games -- Ruth Padel, The Independent on Sunday
. . .one of Duhig's charms is that, for all his learning, he retains humility -- Kathryn Gray, Magma Review
Ian is a one-off legend, a true original -- Jackie Kay, Herald
Multifarious and maverick, deeply personal and political, Duhig’s poetic vision alchemises the heart and mind. This is a brilliant collection from a balladeer of our times, a poet who stands for the people, always with a sense of compassion, humility and wry humour -- Jennifer Lee Tsai * Guardian *
Duhig's poems are, among other things, wonderful tour buses: they speed down lanes of recollection, scooting along infinite library shelves and hopping from stop to stop with happy disregard for such minor inconveniences as the Highway Code, geography, or linear time * The Telegraph *
"Accessible complexity" is not an oxymoron in Duhig's work . . . This [is] Duhig's most moving book, full of memorable poetry not just of skill but of heart -- Graeme Richardson * Sunday Times *
ISBN: 9781035033201
Dimensions: 196mm x 152mm x 7mm
Weight: 120g
80 pages