In 1981 The Salamander Press published Andrew Motion's highly acclaimed poem Independence. Now, in Secret Narratives, Motion has made the first collection of his shorter poems to have appeared since The Pleasure Steamers (1978). As it's title implies, Secret Narratives is comprised largely of poems which tell stories - stories which for all their intrinsic excitement and interest retain an element of mystery. Their range of reference and context is ambitiously wide, but whether they deal with England or abroad, past or present, history or fiction, they are always accessible, evocative and moving. Andrew Motion has extended and deepened his poetic gift by adding dramatic intensity to the lyrical skills for which his first two books were praised. Secret Narratives - which includes The Letter, the poem which the 1981 Avron/Observer Poetry Prize - will undoubtably confirm his reputation as one of the most compelling and important young English poets writing today.
Used availability for Andrew Motion's Secret Narratives