Driven by a vigorous rhythmic energy, Robert Minhinnick's poems evoke the dense and different realities of communities, the cadences of voices and weather, shared maps of streets and cafés, custom and memory, that define life in Wales, Iraq and Argentina.

Dyma gasgliad o gerddi Robert Minhinnick - cerddi sy'n adlewyrchu'r realiti ym mywyd cymunedau, y lleisiau a'r tywydd, y strydoedd a'r caffis, yr arferion a'r atgofion, sy'n diffinio bywyd yng Nghymru, Irac a'r Ariannin.

Robert Minhinnick’s fine collection of new poems is certainly worth reading in its own right, but also serves as an illuminating companion to his recent debut novel, Sea Holly, with which it shares themes and territory. I felt that the fact that I had read Sea Holly helped me to connect with the poetry, and that reading the poetry retrospectively informed my reading of the novel.

Minhinnick is far from easy reading and there were moments when I imagined A-level students of the future struggling (with glee or groaning?) with the challenge of the many references, allusions and multi-layered meanings. For the poems naturally reflect Minhinnick’s huge political and intellectual engagement and demand a similar level of engagement on the part of the reader. After a single reading, I know I do not fully understand many of the poems, any more than I fully understood Sea Holly, but I like that. Readers with other tastes might well quote ‘King Driftwood meets the Vagabond Surf’: ‘Too much rhyme and not enough reason, but when was he ever reasonable?’

Too much rhyme? Perhaps, sometimes, but then it is precisely Minhinnick’s strong use of rhyme, rhythm and sound that gives his poetry its deep, almost mesmeric musicality. His images cut in with a razor edge, preventing the soporific: ‘bladderwrack fat as figs’. His pacing is extraordinary – sometimes slow and contemplative, sometimes with such a powerful forward thrust you wonder what the man is on. Image piled upon image; rhythms sustained, repeated, broken; a distinctive, constant voice expressed in a rich variety of form, structure, style. My one wish now would be to hear the poems read aloud by the poet . . .

Suzy Ceulan Hughes

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.