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A Swan's Neck on the Butcher's Block
Visceral, haunting and full of passion, verve and wit, this new collection from one of Scotland's most original voices examines and explores the soul of humanity. Written with the same anarchic spirit of the Beat generation, the poems here respond to themes of identity, place, love and the unloved. A Swan's Neck on a Butcher's Block is an achingly honest, vivid collection that dares to challenge ideas of what it is to live and to be alive.
- GenresPoetry
128 pages, Paperback
Published November 5, 2024
4 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Jenni Fagan
31 books689 followersJenni Fagan has published four fiction novels, one non-fiction memoir, seven books of poetry and had scripts produced for stage and screen. She has three degrees, concluding as Dr. Of Philosophy, specialising in structuralism.
Jenni is an award winning, critically acclaimed poet and novelist. She is published in eight languages. A Granta Best of Young British Novelist (once-in-a-decade-accolade), Scottish Novelist of the Year (2016), Pushchart nominated, on lists for BBC International Short Story Prize, Impac Dublin, The Sunday Times Short Story Award, Encore, among others. The New York Times called her The Patron Saint of Literary Street Urchins.
Fagan is also an artist who exhibits canvas and sculptures, her bone artworks are on permanent display at Summerhall, where she kintsugi’d the building with poems in gold.
Jenni has written articles for the Independent, NY Times, Marie Claire. She has held Writer in Residence positions at the University of Edinburgh, Robert Louise Stevenson Fellowship and Gavin Wallace.
She has worked extensively with women in prison, and those from deprived backgrounds.
She is currently adapting The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh for tv, also The Panopticon, Luckenbooth and Hex.
Jenni is an award winning, critically acclaimed poet and novelist. She is published in eight languages. A Granta Best of Young British Novelist (once-in-a-decade-accolade), Scottish Novelist of the Year (2016), Pushchart nominated, on lists for BBC International Short Story Prize, Impac Dublin, The Sunday Times Short Story Award, Encore, among others. The New York Times called her The Patron Saint of Literary Street Urchins.
Fagan is also an artist who exhibits canvas and sculptures, her bone artworks are on permanent display at Summerhall, where she kintsugi’d the building with poems in gold.
Jenni has written articles for the Independent, NY Times, Marie Claire. She has held Writer in Residence positions at the University of Edinburgh, Robert Louise Stevenson Fellowship and Gavin Wallace.
She has worked extensively with women in prison, and those from deprived backgrounds.
She is currently adapting The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh for tv, also The Panopticon, Luckenbooth and Hex.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 19, 2024
“and when I am exhausted which is nearly always I am all hag and no gentle lines to soften”
September 17, 2024
Absolutely amazing poetry collection. Read this in a remote Scottish bothy and poetry somehow kicks differently in such a setting. Some amazing poems that made me laugh out loud or cry a little. Jenni Fagan is amazing. Go buy this one! I got my copy at the Watermill Bookshop in Aberfeldy which I love dearly.
May 25, 2025
3.5⭐️
Not all the poetry in this book is for me, and that's okay. This is why, as much as I love reading poetry, I find it so hard to rate a collection as a whole. That said, the pieces that were for me stole my breath.
My top three pieces in this collection:
Ninety Seconds Till Midnight (read this one out loud!)
Pre-Nuptual
Hope
These gritty poems allow us a glimpse into Fagans life as it is, without rose coloured lenses. The Scottish language and dialect is scattered throughout the pieces, allowing for a unique twist to her words that clearly come from the heart. Unrefined and raw, this is a poetry collection to pick up!
🎁 Thank you to Birlinn/Polygon for providing a review copy of this book. This has in no way affected my rating.
Not all the poetry in this book is for me, and that's okay. This is why, as much as I love reading poetry, I find it so hard to rate a collection as a whole. That said, the pieces that were for me stole my breath.
My top three pieces in this collection:
Ninety Seconds Till Midnight (read this one out loud!)
Pre-Nuptual
Hope
These gritty poems allow us a glimpse into Fagans life as it is, without rose coloured lenses. The Scottish language and dialect is scattered throughout the pieces, allowing for a unique twist to her words that clearly come from the heart. Unrefined and raw, this is a poetry collection to pick up!
🎁 Thank you to Birlinn/Polygon for providing a review copy of this book. This has in no way affected my rating.
February 3, 2025
This was an incredible poetry collection. I loved the inclusion of Scot's. There were so many great poems that made me laugh, cry, and sigh in anger. I can't wait to read more from Jenni Fagan!
This would be a great collection to start with if you haven't read much poetry and also a great one to pick up if you are a lover of poetry.
Thank you @birlinnbooks for kindly sending me this copy.
This would be a great collection to start with if you haven't read much poetry and also a great one to pick up if you are a lover of poetry.
Thank you @birlinnbooks for kindly sending me this copy.
October 12, 2025
Haven’t read much poetry yet, but this one I really enjoyed. Refreshingly unpretentious, kinda sharp and honest. My favourites were Ninety Seconds to Midnight, Who Are You to Say What It Is to Be Living?, Rat, and On Another One of My Worst Years.
May 18, 2025
A sombre, raw, and dark account on modern Western times.
February 17, 2026
A bit like a goth Rupi Kaur who wants to be Baudelaire. Not a good experience.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews