Overview

Don Paterson is one of Britain’s leading contemporary poets. A popular writer as well as a formidably intelligent one, he has won both a dedicated readership and most of Britain's major poetry prizes, including the T. S. Eliot Prize on two occasions, the Forward Prize in every category, and the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. In this first comprehensive study of Paterson’s poetry, Ben Wilkinson presents him as a modern-day metaphysical, whose work is characterised by guileful use of form, musicality, colloquial diction and playful wit, in pursuit of poetry as a moral and philosophical project. Drawing on a wide range of commentators, Wilkinson traces Paterson’s development from collection to collection, providing detailed close readings of the poems framed by theoretical and literary contexts. An essential guide for students, specialists, and the general reader of contemporary poetry, it presents Paterson as a major lyric poet.

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9781837644421

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"""The question of Paterson's own history is addressed in Ben Wilkinson's monograph Don Paterson, the first full-length study of the poet. It reads Paterson's work from the first book, Nil Nil, to 2009's Rain, with a 'Coda' to consider the two most recent collections. Sometimes Wilkinson's Paterson is a depersonalized, 'modernist' Paterson; sometimes very much a poet of the inescapable self; occasionally, a poet of some ironic relation between these poles. It is to the book's advantage when it doesn't seek a grand narrative, the better to focus on the workings of the poems in detail; this it does exquisitely."" Sam Quill, Times Literary Supplement"

‘The question of Paterson’s own history is addressed in Ben Wilkinson’s monograph Don Paterson, the first full-length study of the poet. It reads Paterson’s work from the first book, Nil Nil, to 2009’s Rain, with a “Coda” to consider the two most recent collections. Sometimes Wilkinson’s Paterson is a depersonalized, “modernist” Paterson; sometimes very much a poet of the inescapable self; occasionally, a poet of some ironic relation between these poles. It is to the book’s advantage when it doesn’t seek a grand narrative, the better to focus on the workings of the poems in detail; this it does exquisitely.’ Sam Quill, Times Literary Supplement

Author Information

Ben Wilkinson is Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University of Bolton. His books include the poetry collections Way More Than Luck (Seren, 2018) and Same Difference (Seren, 2022). For over a decade, he has regularly written on contemporary poetry for publications including The Guardian, The Poetry Review, and the Times Literary Supplement.

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