Selected Poems

by Kathleen Jamie

Kathleen Jamie's Selected Poems gathers together some of the finest work by one of the foremost poets currently writing in English. Although Jamie is perhaps best known for her writing on nature, landscape, and place, Selected Poems shows the full and remarkably diverse range of her work - and why many regard her work as crucially relevant to our troubled age. No poet currently writing has a keener eye or ear; no poet has paid more careful attention to the other consciousnesses with whom we share the planet - and no poet has Jamie's almost miraculous ability to show us just how the world might look when the human eye ceases to gaze on it. This exceptional collection of poetry, spanning several decades, allows readers to chart the development of one of our most important contemporary talents, and serves as perfect introduction to her work.

Genres: Poetry, Scotland

242 pages, Paperback

Published January 15, 2019

About the author

Kathleen Jamie is a poet, essayist and travel writer, one of a remarkable clutch of Scottish writers picked out in 1994 as the ‘new generation poets’ – it was a marketing ploy at the time but turns out to have been a very prescient selection. She became Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Stirling in 2011.

http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org....

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Massive Kathleen Jamie fan here, love her nature writing and have enjoyed a couple of her books of poetry, as soon as I saw this book it went right onto my wishlist. It is a fantastic introduction to her work, anybody picking up this book is sure to become a convert. It spans from the early 1980’s all the way to 2015 and you really get to see how her writing evolved, rough at the beginning but very quickly being fine tuned into mini masterpieces. One of the things I most enjoy in her writing is when she blends Scots in with the English words and it didn’t take long before I spotted For Paola and I was left smiling at the line “A licht-bulb, hingit fi the ceiling”.

Favourites in this collection were Den of the Old Men, Jamie has managed to convert a photograph into a poem, so easy to picture what she has written. Skeins o Geese, one of my all-time favourite poems and probably the first thing I had seen written by Jamie, nice to see it included here. Bairnsang, an impressive little poem, as you read this you see the place names leaping from the pages for your attention. And Wings Over Scotland, it doesn’t matter how many times you read this list of murdered birds with zero prosecutions, the rage doesn’t diminish one iota.

There are a fair old number of poems in this book, and you can sense this is just the tip of the iceberg. Fantastic book, beautiful cover and one I’ll read again and again.

Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2022...

[Gabrielle Barnby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last December I found myself with time to kill in Edinburgh. I sought out the Scottish Poetry Library. A low doorway opened into a light filled space where shelves of poems waited. There was an atmosphere of communion, of wholeness and freedom. I picked up Kathleen Jamie's collection. It's range continues to delight me. From Hand Relief and the girl who 'touched your knee' to the 'fluttering bird' in the tender Ultrasound.

The poems are taken from eight collections, inviting the reader to explore Jamie's the changes in theme and tone and the issues she has addressed. The majority are in standard English, but there are gems such as Selchs and Hame in Scots.

There are wild places at the edge and history from the ancient in The Well at the Broch of Gurness to the modern Mr and Mrs Scotland are Dead. Whether it is a civic amenity site or a windswept shore Jamie finds inspiration and tunes her attention to the particular details of the moment. This collection is a rich story of life within and life all around. It is an inspiration to giving attention to detail and seeking personal creative response.

The poems are: diary, litany, love letter, protest and song. Jamie has a rich relationship with words and wild places and this is her Scotland and her gift.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given how impressed I was with Sightlines and Findings, I was interested to read Kathleen Jamie's poetry more specifically. I was not wowed anything like as much, but that does not mean I did not put in my thumb and pull out many plums. I especially liked the poems taken from The Tree House, in particular The Cupboard, The Buddleia and Solstice I. I found myself drawn to the poems in Scots - no less penetrable than some others, and compelling in their rhythms.

I note too the power of Wings over Scotland, a list of raptor persecutions, with the end of every line "No prosecution" and as for Another You, that was a glorious quiet evocation of clear sighted personal histories that brought a gasp and tears to my eyes for the closeness to a personal experience.

[Peter B Waddell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover, dimensions and weight of this volume are essentially pleasing, subtly different from so many anthologies as it sits on the shelf, the counter, the hand. Once opened, I found the easy flow of KJ's poetry had me reading and re-reading large chunks at a time across a range of themes and details of life and land and language.

[Michael Soper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scotland’s Favorite Living Poet

Kathleen Jamie Selected Poems

Asked, “Who do you think you are?”
She replies, “A Poet ! The Queen of Sheeba ! ”
Ah ! That explains it: the glimpses and teases;
the images, soft and complex, simple and sharp;
the wanderings and the homecomings.
We are too old to return to Scotland.
Her poems are the next best thing.

Michael Soper

[Leilani · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't read much poetry, but I'm making an effort to try it out. I liked some pieces, especially her later work. Also the cover is just so lovely.