The 'Tableaux Parisiens' (Paris Scenes) section of Les Fleurs du Mal contains eighteen poems which record a twenty-four-hour tour of the city: a type of Joycean journey from the point of view of a dandy Odysseus. Many of the poems in the sequence possess the sharpness and intensity of a dream, a dedoublement, enabling us to contemplate life in a manner that merges the fantastic and the sordidly realistic. These new translations are accompanied by artist Sally Castle's responses prompted by the work of Constantin Guys, Baudelaire's favourite 'painter of modern life'. 'These unblinking translations by Ian Brinton offer us a revival of Baudelaire's offense against public morals. Hand-in-hand with the poet's unquiet ghost, Brinton reminds us of the transparency of our contemporary mores so that we see through to Baudelaire's genius, to his insistent sense of mortality in its Romantic eroticism and corruption. To understand the poet "tranced in envy" at the antics of these corpse-like erotics is to glimpse a form of compassion, of pity for the human condition. This strange and haunting quality is there at every turn of Brinton's Baudelaire.' - KELVIN CORCORAN

One evening in 1961, in the Greyhound pub in Carshalton, Surrey, 20-year-old Chris Torrance - solicitor's clerk with novelistic ambitions — encountered a volatile Mob of nascent artists, writers and musicians. For Torrance, this was "the most important day of my life". Dazzled, he was soon joining in their activities: wild weekends in the country, his first scary public readings, and, from 1963, co-editing the poetry and jazz magazine Origins/Diversions. In literary terms, Torrance's greatest influence from the group was Bill Wyatt, who introduced him to "useful short forms" like haiku, and to William Carlos Williams' Paterson. Wyatt, later a prolific poet, translator, naturalist, and the first Zen monk ordained in Britain, remained a life-long friend and ally. Origins/Diversions connected Torrance to other 'underground' writers and publishers, including Tina Morris and Dave Cunliffe in Blackburn, and, through them, Lee Harwood in London. In June 1964 Harwood came to Carshalton for a walk around Torrance's patch. Reciprocal visits followed, with Torrance cycling to the East End, where Harwood was writing his long poem Cable Street. They were very different people, Torrance focussed on his local area and his local friends, Harwood a cool, elegant but friendly cosmopolitan, feeding Torrance the exciting new writing via his job at Better Books in Charing Cross Road. Torrance now began finding his own voice as a poet, and, through Harwood's encouragement, placed work in the Cambridge magazine, The English Intelligencer. One of its editors, Andrew Crozier, published Torrance's first two books. In the spring of 1965 Torrance gave up his seven-year career in solicitors' offices, and joined the local Parks Department as a labourer. As the title Green Orange Purple Red implies, he wanted a more sensual take on the world via his writing — a Keatsian ambition. About then he found a second-hand copy of The New American Poetry, and embarked on a lifelong 'love affair' with those writers and that energy. In particular, the enormous presence of Charles Olson, seemed to confirm that — in terms of big ambition and local detail — Torrance was on the right track with his writing. Validation came in July 1966, with 'The Carshalton Steam Laundry Vision'. Torrance was cutting the grass outside the Laundry, when his vocation was revealed to him: 'I'm going to be a poet'. It wasn't a 'vision'; it was a powerful voice that had to be obeyed ("I accepted it completely"). As The Voice diminished into the clatter of machinery and the chatter of the laundry girls, the path ahead lay clear. In the autumn of 1967, Torrance and his partner Val settled in Bristol, with Torrance working as a Parks Dept. labourer again. His near three-year stay in Bristol was a transitional time, with a tendency in his writing towards psychedelia and a broader spirituality becoming more evident. In June 1970, Torrance moved to a cottage in pastoral/industrial South Wales, to 'chew the lotus in peace', as John Wieners has it. He was to stay there for 50 years, increasing the range and depth of his poetic vision, but much of the foundations and shape of his future writing are here in this early work: inspiration from his locality, from geology up; the prosodic links between music and words; a positive faith that anyone — taking himself as the model — could and should be creative; and, importantly, the idea of larger cycles of writing — as in The Carshalton Poems — culminating in his life's major work, The Magic Door. (Phil Maillard)

Douglas Oliver (1937–2000) was a poet with a substantial reputation in the late 1980s and 1990s, finding a larger audience for his socially-committed poetry in a way that no other of his poetic background had done, or perhaps wished to do. He left school early, and worked for many years as a journalist – in Cambridge, Paris, and Coventry – before attending the University of Essex as a mature student in the 1970s. In this period he was associated with the so-called Cambridge School of poetry, and his work was published by its representative publishers, Ferry Press and Grosseteste Review Editions. He subsequently lived in Paris, New York, and then again in Paris, usually working as a lecturer. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, including Oppo Hectic, The Diagram Poems, The Harmless Building, The Infant and the Pearl, Kind, Penniless Politics, A Salvo for Africa, and the posthumous volumes, Arrondissements and Whisper ‘Louise’. At the time this volume was compiled all of his poetry was out of print, making this retrospective survey all the more important.

"By the time of his death at the age of 41, Riley had achieved a poetry whose importance is not circumscribed by the concerns and trends of its day. His finest poems are an embodiment of integrity and vision: precise observation and wit co-exist with an extraordinary beauty of image and rhythm. Riley's is an art that at its best has a place in the enduring tradition of English poetry."-Michael Grant

In June 2016, J.H. Prynne celebrates his 80th birthday. A major figure in contemporary British poetry, he and his work are here celebrated by friends and admirers, with new poems and essays on his writings. Both a festschrift and a study of a highly original body of work, the collection offers something for all readers of Prynne's poetry. "J.H. Prynne is without doubt the most formidable and accomplished poet in England today, a writer who has single-handedly changed the vocabulary of expression, and who, through his teaching at Cambridge, has re-educated the sensibility of an entire generation of students.'' -Peter Ackroyd (Sunday Times, 3 December 1987)

This volume contains the remarkable PhD thesis submitted by Crozier in 1972, and for which his external examiner was J.H. Prynne-whose comments on the thesis are also included here, as an afterword. "My intention in writing this thesis has been to cast some light on the prima facie case that free verse, in abandoning the exercise of metre, has abandoned that principle of restraint upon which the creation of artistic form depends. This point of view contrasts with a general contention on the part of the exponents of free verse that their works possess form which is not only unique but which also bears an immediate relation to the significance of the work, a relationship felt to be 'musical', although not in any directly analogical sense."

This volume, featuring essays by a number of poets and critics, is the first survey of Peter Hughes' poetry, and is published simultaneously with his Selected Poems. The book features contributions from Andrew Bailey, Riccardo Duranti, John Hall, Simon Howard, David Kennedy, Simon Marsh, Ian McMillan, Peter Riley, Derek Slade, John Welch and Nigel Wheale.

Almost without exception the prose of Andrew Crozier, reviews and articles centred upon the close reading of poetry including fearless debate about the importance of some figures who have either been overlooked by the establishment or given little more than a cursory nod of acknowledgement, has been out of print for far too long. The work, often published in journals or as contributory chapters to other books, has never before been collected together and this seems astonishing. -from Ian Brinton's introduction to this volume.

This is a concise but comprehensive student guide to studying Emily Bronte's classic novel "Wuthering Heights". After its relatively modest reception in 1847, Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" has become one of the most widely-read novels of the nineteenth century. Seen as one of those rare works that has transcended its literary origin to become part of the lexicon of popular culture, its uncompromising awareness of the powers of both love and selfishness, landscape and revenge has made it a popular choice of text for students. This concise but comprehensive guide to the text introduces its contexts, language, reception and adaptation from its first publication to the present. It includes points for discussion, suggestions for further study and an annotated guide to relevant reading. "Continuum Reader's Guides" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to key texts in literature and philosophy. Each book explores the themes, context, criticism and influence of key works, providing a practical introduction to close reading, guiding students towards a thorough understanding of the text. They provide an essential, up-to-date resource, ideal for undergraduate students.

This is a concise but comprehensive student guide to studying Emily Bronte's classic novel "Wuthering Heights". After its relatively modest reception in 1847, Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" has become one of the most widely-read novels of the nineteenth century. Seen as one of those rare works that has transcended its literary origin to become part of the lexicon of popular culture, its uncompromising awareness of the powers of both love and selfishness, landscape and revenge has made it a popular choice of text for students. This concise but comprehensive guide to the text introduces its contexts, language, reception and adaptation from its first publication to the present. It includes points for discussion, suggestions for further study and an annotated guide to relevant reading. "Continuum Reader's Guides" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to key texts in literature and philosophy. Each book explores the themes, context, criticism and influence of key works, providing a practical introduction to close reading, guiding students towards a thorough understanding of the text. They provide an essential, up-to-date resource, ideal for undergraduate students.

"A Manner of Utterance" offers a collection of responses to J.H. Prynne's poetry by his readers: not merely academics, but poets, composers, teachers and a painter (Ian Friend, one of whose works is featured on the cover). The contributors include Ian Brinton (also editor of the volume), David Caddy, Ian Friend, Richard Humphreys, Li Zhi-min, Rod Mengham, Keston Sutherland, John Douglas Templeton and Erik Ulman.

"A Manner of Utterance" offers a collection of responses to J.H. Prynne's poetry by his readers: not merely academics, but poets, composers, teachers and a painter (Ian Friend, one of whose works is featured on the cover). The contributors include Ian Brinton (also editor of the volume), David Caddy, Ian Friend, Richard Humphreys, Li Zhi-min, Rod Mengham, Keston Sutherland, John Douglas Templeton and Erik Ulman.

Critical introductions to a range of literary topics and genres. The emotional power and intellectual challenge of metaphysical poetry are such that it still appeals to modern readers. This book looks at the many ways in which readers at different times have read metaphysical poetry, suggesting approaches for readers today.

Reader's Guides provide a comprehensive starting point for any advanced student, giving an overview of the context, criticism and influence of key works. Each guide also offers students fresh critical insights and provides a practical introduction to close reading and to analysing literary language and form. They provide up-to-date, authoritative but accessible guides to the most commonly studied classic texts. Great Expectations (1861) is not only one of the last great novels to be written by Dickens but is also one which centres around his primary themes: the importance of childhood in relationship to adult life, concepts of guilt and imprisonment and an analysis of individualism as opposed to the increasing bureaucracy of nineteenth-century England.This guide isan ideal introduction tothe textincluding its contexts, Dickens's style and imagery, its critical reception from the time of publication to the present, a guide to illustrated editions and film adaptations and a guide to further reading.

"Reader's Guides" provide a comprehensive starting point for any advanced student, giving an overview of the context, criticism and influence of key works. Each guide also offers students fresh critical insights and provides a practical introduction to close reading and to analysing literary language and form. They provide up-to-date, authoritative but accessible guides to the most commonly studied classic texts. "Great Expectations" (1861) is not only one of the last great novels to be written by Dickens but is also one which centers around his primary themes: the importance of childhood in relationship to adult life, concepts of guilt and imprisonment and an analysis of individualism as opposed to the increasing bureaucracy of nineteenth-century England. This guide is an ideal introduction to the text including its contexts, Dickens's style and imagery, its critical reception from the time of publication to the present, a guide to illustrated editions and film adaptations and a guide to further reading.

Critical introductions to a range of literary topics and genres. This book encompasses experiences of the British Empire such as life in Nigeria before the arrival of the British, through to the British retreat from the Empire after the Second World War and on to reggae and 'dub' beats of black British poetry today. Includes writing from Indian, African, South African and Caribbean authors such as Salman Rushdie, Chinua Achebe, J.M. Coetzee and Derek Walcott.

Critical introductions to a range of literary topics and genres. Looking back on 20th century British drama from its' historical, social and political perspective enables the reader to set each play in a broader context. Contents include a selection of play extracts from well-known authors including Harold Brighouse, John Osborne, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard and Timberlake Wertenbaker.

Critical introductions to a range of literary topics and genres. Poetry has been described as 'a necessary art' that enriches what goes on inside us. This book offers an introduction to the often challenging world of contemporary poetry. The book focuses on very recent poetry, and examines the various challenges to tradition it presents: challenges of both content and form, as well as more practical challenges such as new forms of publication. The poetry is considered in relation to social, cultural and political contexts throughout. Contents include recent work by established poets such as Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes as well as poetry by writers who have emerged since 1990 such as Jackie Kay and Vicki Feaver.

The Modern Short Story is a new title in the Cambridge Contexts in Literature series. It is designed to support the needs of advanced level students of English literature. Each title in the series has the quality, content and level endorsed by the OCR examination board. However, the texts provide the background and focus suitable for any examination board at advanced level.The series explores the contextual study of texts by concentrating on key periods, topics and comparisons in literature. Each book adopts an interactive approach and provides the background for understanding the significance of literary, historical and social contexts. Students are encouraged to investigate different interpretations that may be applied to literary texts by different readers, through a variety of activities and questions, the use of study aids, such as chronologies and glossaries, and the inclusion of anthology sections to exemplify issues.

Satire is a new title in the Cambridge Contexts in Literature series for advanced level students of English Literature. Each title in the series has the quality, content and level endorsed by the OCR examination board. However, the texts provide the background and focus suitable for any examination board at advanced level.The series explores the contextual study of texts by concentrating on key periods, topics and comparisons in literature. Each book adopts an interactive approach and provides the background for understanding the significance of literary, historical and social contexts. Students are encouraged to investigate different interpretations that may be applied to literary texts by different readers, through a variety of activities and questions, the use of study aids, such as chronologies and glossaries, and the inclusion of anthology sections to exemplify issues.

The Gothic Tradition is a new title in the Cambridge Contexts in Literature series. It is designed to support the needs of advanced level students of English literature. Each title in the series has the quality, content and level endorsed by the OCR examination board. However, the texts provide the background and focus suitable for any examination board at advanced level.The series explores the contextual study of texts by concentrating on key periods, topics and comparisons in literature. Each book adopts an interactive approach and provides the background for understanding the significance of literary, historical and social contexts. Students are encouraged to investigate different interpretations that may be applied to literary texts by different readers, through a variety of activities and questions, the use of study aids, such as chronologies and glossaries, and the inclusion of anthology sections to exemplify issues.