ASTERISK* is a sequence of poems inspired by Shandy Hall, the extraordinary house in Coxwold that was once home to the writer Laurence Sterne. The book is a personal interpretation of things Shandean, combined with photographs of the house and its garden. Paul Munden was born in Poole, Dorset, in 1958. He worked as a creative writing tutor in adult education and for various universities, before becoming Director of NAWE, the National Association of Writers in Education. He received an Eric Gregory Award in 1987 and his poems have appeared in many anthologies, including the Faber Book of Movie Verse, Faber's Poetry Introduction 7, and Quintet (Staple First Editions 1993). For the British Council, he has been the Writer-in-Residence at several Anglo-Swiss conferences