Close-Up

'Mary Oliver famously said that our endless and proper work as poets is to pay attention and indeed, Quentin Cowdry's keen, almost forensic gaze is evident in every poem in this collection. Precise imagery and unflinching emotional insights bring us face to face with life with all its complexities and ambiguities; insights into what it is to be human and flawed. Close-Up is both troubling and affirming - an exciting debut.'Moyra Donaldson'There is an unnerving intimacy about Quentin Cowdry's work, even in public places; parks, beaches, pine forests are settings for painful human observation, for acute questioning. Details fix insights, focus speculations, often at the poet's expense, whether they be a tie pin, a coat hanger or "the small neat hoop of her waist".It is clear that he does not escape the scrutiny he brings to bear on a species sometimes shabby, even shameful, but always fascinating. In one of his most troubling poems, Cowdry signs off with a breathtaking coup of emotional anatomy: "The vocal heart beneath its screen of bone" (Making Peace with Landeg)Exactly so. Language cuts both ways in poems that are, indeed, close-ups, verbal screenshots of the imperfect.'Peter Pegnall'Close-Up has a beautiful completeness to it. The poet takes us on a compelling journey through the arc of life, from youth to maturity, family and mortality. Each poem is a subtle vignette, deftly sketched, finely observed, with a light touch, resonating in the mind page after page.'Colin Pink'The deftness, depth and breadth of this pamphlet make it as rewarding as reading a full collection. An original, assured, new poetic voice and a highly accomplished debut.'Konstandinos Mahoney