Acknowledgements are due to the editors of the following publications in which some of these poems first appeared: Ambit, Book Club Boutique Newspaper, The Frogmore Papers, Identity Parade: new poets from Britain & Ireland (Bloodaxe Books, 2010), Interlitq, London Library Magazine, Magma, The Moth, Penpusher, The Poetry Archive, Poetry International, Poetry London, Poetry Review, Rising, Southword, The Wolf and Zafusy.
‘The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke’ was commissioned by the Tate. ‘Broadstairs’ started as a reworking of ‘The Harrin’s Heed’, a folksong I heard at Broadstairs folk festival that begins: ‘What’ll wi dee wi’ the harrin’s heed? / We’ll meck it inte loaves o’ breed…’ ‘Reynardine’ and ‘The Two Ravens’ are new versions of the traditional ballads ‘Reynardine’ and ‘The Twa Corbies’.
Thanks are due to the Royal Literary Fund for granting me a fellowship whilst I was writing this collection. Thanks also to all those who read and gave helpful comments on these poems: the poets at The Lamb, Polly Clark, Antony Dunn, Julia Copus, Tim Turnbull, Hannah Sullivan, Melanie Challenger, and, most of all, Matthew Hollis.