A Discovery of Witches

by Blake Morrison

Featuring poems both old and new.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Hardcover

Published September 13, 2012

About the author

Blake Morrison was educated at Nottingham University, McMaster University and University College, London. After working for the Times Literary Supplement, he went on to become literary editor of both The Observer and the Independent on Sunday before becoming a full-time writer in 1995.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and former Chair of the Poetry Book Society and Vice-Chair of PEN, Blake has written fiction, poetry, journalism, literary criticism and libretti, as well as adapting plays for the stage. His best-known works are probably his two memoirs, "And When Did You Last See Your Father?" and "Things My Mother Never Told Me."

Since 2003, Blake has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College. He lives in south London, with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

2012 marks the 400th anniversary of the Lancashire witch trials. In 1996, Blake Morrison published 'Pendle Witches', with etchings by Paula Rego, but the poems were only loosely related to the case. 'A Discoverie of Witches' builds on these earlier poems but is more focused on historic events. He brilliantly captures both the vernacular of the time and the atmosphere of the region. This collection also features previously published autobiographical poetry inspired by Morrison's Yorkshire upbringing, plus a poem about Isabella Linton of Wuthering Heights fame, and a study of a more recent local atrocity, The Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper.

[Sarah Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection even though some of the dialect made it hard going at times.