The Soho Leopard

by Ruth Padel

Hallucinatory and lyrical, these poems cross Pizza Hut with mating alligators and endangered animal species with stage directions for Beauty and the Beast. Making wild connections over space and time, this new collection displays her gift for getting into the same register areas of life that are normally far apart. Full of wildlife and color, these poems explore new extremes of voice, range, and poetics, linking mythology and zoological science to rich descriptive powers, vivid speaking voice, and passionate, sensual language. Starting from London streets, Soho, and Kings Cross, the poems reach out to the Amazon, Siberia, Mexico, Louisiana wetlands, Mayan myth, ancient Athenian politicians, Tudor England, and the human need for stories. Thoughts turn into music in an enchanted castle, a crocodile-god waves the feather of truth at Judas, and a downloaded Buddha opens his eyes when highlighted on a laptop. The works explore a year of urban fox life, watch a prehistoric storyteller defrosting, hear invisible alligators explain scarring in the human epidermis, all while an elephant embroidered by Mary Queen of Scots nearly—but not quite—touches the spinet played by the woman who executed her.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Ruth is an English poet and writer. She has published poetry collections, novels, and books of non-fiction, including several on reading poetry. She has presented Radio 4′s Poetry Workshop, visiting poetry groups across the UK to discuss their poems.

Her awards include First Prize in the UK National Poetry Competition, a Cholmondeley Award from The Society of Authors, an Arts Council of England Writers’ Award and a British Council Darwin Now Research Award for her novel Where the Serpent Lives.

Ruth lives in London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Member of the Bombay Natural History Society, an Ambassador for New Networks for Nature, a Patron of 21st-Century Tiger and a Council Member of the Zoological Society of London.

Reviews

[Kiran Bhat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sounds of all the animal kingdom, at once

An ecological sojourn into the nature of life, Ruth Padel muses and extols with nuance and meaning. The poems are a great case study in craft and sound. I would recommend them to any aspiring poet.

[Harj D · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dynamic collection of poems, splicing and dicing the animal kingdom with legend, anecdotes, science and a heap of imagination. I especially loved the section 'IV Nights of the Dry Monsoon' in this collection as it was simple yet effective. Beautifully written poems, weaving stories in a wicked way.

[Hilary West · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent imagination Ruth Padel has. Her poetry is like a glittering toy shop juxtaposed with shards of a glass menagerie. I would recommend you read her at your earliest opportunity.