Robert Minhinnick's is amongst the major voices of modern Wales. His
Selected Poems draws on six collections published between 1978 and
1994.Several uncollected pieces are also included.The earlier poems are
diverse: descriptions of work in heavy industry and delicate 'herbals'
(observations of wildlife around the writer's childhood home in Wales)
exist side by side. Later poems deal with travel - in Brazil and the
United States - and depict the troubled, often terrifying world of
schizophrenia.
Selected Poems celebrates the life and characters of a close-knit
community - a peopled landscape - then breaks away to consider history
and culture from wider perspectives. Powerful images and severe
compassion are hallmarks of the work.
ROBERT MINHINNICK, born near Neath in 1952, has published poetry and two
collections of essays. His book of essays, Watching the Fire Eater, was
Welsh Book of the Year in 1993. He has received an Eric Gregory Award
for his poetry, a John Morgan Award for his prose work and two Arts
Council of Wales Literature Prizes.In 1998 he received a Cholomondeley
Award. He founded Friends of the Earth Cymru (Wales) in 1984 and has
worked as a writer in residence in Canada.He is currently editor of
Poetry Wales. His most recent collection of essays Badlands (Seren,
1996).
