Devious Intimacy combines a sly, playful wit with a melancholic tenderness to navigate the complex terrain of difficult feelings. Vickery’s poems move effortlessly between the private world of love and sexuality to wider forms of connection, teasing out how past histories and literature underscore contemporary human bonds and how we imagine ourselves in light of neighbours, nationhood, and the environment.

From Abstract Expressionism to Test Cricket, Vickery’s poetry delves into that which delights and intrigues us, both celebrating and critiquing our everyday routines and aesthetic modes of reception. Wry, smart, and bristling with acute observation, Devious Intimacy is a beguiling mix of charm and charge.