Handling

Jack Thackers debut collection of poems, Handling, showcases his remarkable ability to evoke the sights and sounds of farming life through precise and tactile descriptions of daily work, tools, and activities. The poems in the first part set the stage for the political and artistic perspectives in the second part, which are inspired by his time as a poet-in-residence at the Museum of English Rural Life. The poems highlight the importance of subtlety and strength in handling animals and offer readers rich rewards of depth and skill.

Format: Paperback / softback
Publication date: 21 July 2018
Publisher: Two Rivers Press

The poems in Jack Thackers debut gathering, Handling, showcase an extraordinary talent for vividly capturing the sights and sounds of rural life through an accurate and tactile depiction of daily work, tools, and activities. Childhood memories and seasonal tasks, such as planting vegetables, shearing sheep, and plowing fields, are rendered in a language that is simultaneously strange, familiar, and rhythmically measured as it is inventive. The descriptive poems in the books first part set the stage for the political and artistic perspectives in its second, composed of pieces arising from Thackers time spent as poet-in-residence at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading. In these poems, which center stirringly on the agricultural organizer Joseph Arch, lived experience intertwines with imagined pasts, as Thackers poetic sensibility brings the museums objects and archives to vivid life.

The title poem, "Handling," exemplifies this interplay. The young speaker struggles to guide large and stubborn sheep, observing his father and realizing that handling animals requires both subtlety and strength. These qualities are evident in Thackers poems, which transcend mere surface glamour and offer their readers rich rewards. Alison Brackenbury aptly describes them as "not of surface glamour, but of depth and skill."

On a first reading, Handling may appear convincing and likable, but it takes a while to fully appreciate the quiet brilliance of this brief masterpiece. Once one does, however, it remains etched in the mind, resonating with its readers long after the pages are turned. Bernard ODonoghue captures this essence when he states that the book "takes a while to appreciate fully the quiet brilliance of this brief masterpiece, but once you do, it stays."

In conclusion, Jack Thackers Handling is a testament to his poetic prowess. Through his vivid descriptions of rural life and his ability to intertwine lived experience with imagination, Thackers poems offer a profound exploration of the human condition. The book's first part sets the stage for the political and artistic perspectives in its second, while the title poem serves as a captivating example of this interplay. Handling is a testament to Thackers talent and deserves to be celebrated for its quiet brilliance.

Weight: 72g
Dimension: 210 x 136 x 5 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781909747432