POETRY BOOK SOCIETY CHOICE
Kingdomland is the debut poetry collection of Rachael Allen - a writer of rare vision and flair. The world she creates is suffused with surreal images and uncanny incidents. Unexplained violences and strange metamorphoses take shape in the 'glowering dusk'. And yet, all too clearly, we recognise life here on earth, its everyday griefs, dysfunctions and injustices. Where distinctions between murder and bloodletting, corruption and consumption are blurred. Where a pet tarantula or mimic octopus might find itself beside glands and processed meats. Landscapes shift and identities dissolve: 'the red bricks of the day' exist 'in a woman's chest', a human presence is 'embedded in the walls'. All appears changed, but familiar.
Intercut with oblique verse fragments and a series of linked sequences, Allen blends elements of fiction and ekphrasis to create a haunting and unforgettable debut.
- ISBN10 057134111X
- ISBN13 9780571341115
- Publish Date 17 January 2019 (first published 15 January 2019)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 25 July 2023
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Edition Main
- Format Paperback
- Pages 80
- Language English