This book is the first to represent the full extent of Brian Turner’s achievement as a poet, from his Commonwealth Poetry Prize-winning debut, Ladders of Rain, to poems written in 2018. One of New Zealand’s most acclaimed and widely read contemporary poets, Turner is a proud southerner, and the landscapes and skyscapes of the central South Island are amongst the strongest characteristics of his work. His themes range widely, and make striking connections
poems about fathers and sons are also poems about the duties of care we owe to the natural world; love poems open out into metaphysical inquiry; satire keeps close company with political protest. Turner’s work is distinguished always by his unmistakable wit and feeling, precision and insight.