3 Review(s)

Peter Finch's collection, Useful, is marked by all the restless energy, humour and angst that is so characteristic of this compulsively entertaining poet. Among the varied subjects to come under the poet's subversive scrutiny are Modern Art, the Blues, computers, automobiles, ex-wives, recalcitrant children, aged parents, bleak Welsh landscapes, factory workers, writing classes, old shirts and beach stones. His continuing fascination with technique is highlighted in the second half of the collection which includes a short section of visual pieces as well as the elaborate code of 'One of Our Presidents: Six Variations for Tony Conran'. Also here are poems written for particular performances or directly inspired by works of art. A tireless innovator, an astute and frequently very funny observer of culture and society, Peter Finch will win yet more readers over with Useful. "Just this side of chaos" Jon Gower "A defiant individualist, restlessly pushing words beyond their given forms and meanings to say new things in new ways about our complicated knife-edge times" Western Mail "... deserves a Welsh Knighthood" Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes Peter Finch is a poet, author and critic who lives in Cardiff. He is author of the hugely popular Seren titles Real Cardiff and Real Cardiff Two. His numerous poetry titles include Useful, Poems for Ghosts and Food from Seren, Antibodies from Stride, and Vizet, a selected poems in Hungarian from Kronket Koenyvek. A former publisher and bookseller, he is now Chief Executive of the Welsh Academy, the Welsh Literature Promotion Agency and Society of Writers.