COLLECTED POEMS 1978-2003
Poems by U. A. Fanthorpe

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‘U.A.Fanthorpe is one of our finest public poets, capable of addressing us all in terms we at once recognise and are constantly surprised by.  She is a writer of commanding intimacy.’
W.N.Herbert, P.B.S. Selector, on Collected Poems 1978-2003

‘… a new and original voice in English poetry: clear, distinctive, and remarkably assured.’
Charles Causley, Arts South West, reviewing Side Effects (1978)

‘Her poems are particularly good when they offer unaffected voices from a gallery of human types that do not usually figure in poetry.’
George Szirtes, Times Literary Supplement

‘Who, though, will move you, going straight for the emotions?  Unhesitatingly, I name U.A.Fanthorpe as the poet who can suddenly hit you below the heart.’
Robin Lane Fox, Financial Times 

‘U.A.Fanthorpe is a national treasure.’  Liz Lochhead, P.B.S. Bulletin

‘Her poetry is one of the delights of the age.’  Michael Foot

‘She is an erudite poet, rich in experience and haunted by the classical past. Though Charon and Sisyphus and Alfred have walk-on parts… she is fully at home in the world of the turbulent NHS, the decaying academies, and all the draughty corners of the abandoned Welfare State.’
Peter Porter, Observer

‘One of England’s most consistently engaging poets.’
Carol Ann Duffy, Poetry Review

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The List

Flawlessly typed, and spaced
At the proper intervals,
Serene and lordly, they pace
Along tomorrow’s list
Like giftbearers on a frieze.

In tranquil order, arrayed
With the basic human equipment -
A name, a time, a number -
They advance on the future.

Not more harmonious who pace
Holding a hawk, a fish, a jar
(The customary offerings),
Along the valley of the kings.

Tomorrow these names will turn nasty,
Senile, pregnant, late,
Handicapped, handcuffed, unhandy,
Muddled, moribund, mute,

Be stained by living. But here,
Orderly, equal, right,
On the edge of tomorrow, they pause
Like giftbearers on a frieze

With the proper offering,
A time, a number, a name.
I am the artist, the typist;
I did my best for them.

(from Side Effects, 1978)

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COLLECTED POEMS 1978-2003
Paperback Edition (468 pages):
Price: £15.00 per copy post free (£10.00 post free to Associate Members)
Cover illustration: Washing Up, Stanley Spencer © Estate of Stanley Spencer 2005 / DACS 2005
Hardback Edition (468 pages):
Price: £25.00 per copy post free (£16.75 post free to Associate Members)
Cover illustration: Vincent Van Gogh, Still Life with Books, Romans Parisiens (Les Livres Jaunes). © Christie’s Images Ltd. 1988 All rights reserved.
Publication: MARCH 2005