Carcanet Press - Farm by the Shore

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Author
Awards
Reviews

Shortlisted for the 2017 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year Award

In Farm by the Shore, Thomas A Clark continues his investigations into the landscape and culture of the Scottish highlands and islands. His brief notations and fragments embody the precarious balance between sea and land, wilderness and civilisation, while everything is played out in a context of weather. The spaces between the poems, which both link and divide them, are shades of quiet, indications of time or distance, or graphs of the vagaries of attention. In such a climate, to farm, or walk, or write, is to persist. You come to one thing and then another.

Thomas A Clark lives in a fishing village on the east coast of Scotland. Four books of his poetry previously published by Carcanet explore the landscape and culture of the highlands and islands. Numerous small books, cards and editions from his own Moschatel Press investigate ways that the presentation of poetry ... read more

Awards won by Thomas A Clark Short-listed, 2021 The Scottish Poetry Book of the Year (The Threadbare Coat) Long-listed, 2021 The Laurel Prize (The Threadbare Coat) Short-listed, 2017 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year Award (Farm by the Shore )

'In short, one-breath clusters of lines, Clark meditates on the details one might observe during a contemplative and solitary walk through remote countryside. His diction is perfectly pitched and his grammar exact...this is about a man's spiritual need for the humblest manifestations of nature.'

Philip Rush, The North

'Meaning is discovered between spaces, silences heard between sound...a vitally alert poet.'
London Magazine

'A remarkable portrayal of our contemplative relationship with nature.'
Church Times Best Books of 2017

'With radical simplicity, Thomas A Clark's writing gives us the unfussy beauty of the natural world. There's not much that I ask of poetry that isn't present here.'
Matthew Welton
Praise for Thomas A Clark 'Clark's stripped-back poetry is a sensory delight. His terse yet concentrated lines hold a world of feeling.... There's a darkening in tone as they proceed but the real delight is in the way that Clark, using the fewest number of words, can transport you to that landscape.'

Teddy Jamieson, The Herald Magazine

'Everything is so pared back, exactly the same word can take on different nuances through juxtaposition... The effect is of distillation, concentration; the pared poetics mean there is nothing superfluous.'

Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman

'The Threadbare Coat is a beautiful production, and an interesting selection'

Rupert Loydell, Stride Magazine

'These are love poems to the geography of Scotland and in their own inimitable way bring a clarity and vision to the 'scree slope' that 'tumbles/ into the green lochan.'.'
Casey Charles, Dundee University Review of the Arts
'The Hundred Thousand Places stands at a tentative and oblique angle to the more established modes of pastoral writing. There is a beautiful moment in George Oppen's 'Psalm' when he exclaims of some deer, 'That they are there!', and the fact of the natural world's being there at all supersedes the need for description. There is plenty of description in these poems, but they too converge on a place of revelation whose name is simply 'there'.'
The Guardian 'Space, pace and wild beauty are on the reader's mind throughout this tantalising collection.'
Scottish Review of Books 'Thomas A Clark has produced a book-length poem of genuine visionary intentâ¦ The Hundred Thousand Places realigns our understanding of the lyric voice and of its investment in the natural world.'
Poetry London

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Farm by the Shore Thomas A Clark 10% off eBook (EPUB) 10% off Paperback Categories: 21st Century, British, Scottish Imprint: Carcanet Poetry Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (104 pages) (Pub. Aug 2017) 9781784103521 £9.99 £8.99 eBook (EPUB) Needs ADE! (Pub. Aug 2017) 9781784103538 £7.99 £7.19 Digital access available through Exact Editions To use the EPUB version, you will need to have Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) installed on your device. You can find out more at https://www.adobe.com/uk/solutions/ebook/digital-editions.html. Please do not purchase this version if you do not have and are not prepared to install, Adobe Digital Editions. Description Author Awards Reviews Shortlisted for the 2017 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year Award In Farm by the Shore, Thomas A Clark continues his investigations into the landscape and culture of the Scottish highlands and islands. His brief notations and fragments embody the precarious balance between sea and land, wilderness and civilisation, while everything is played out in a context of weather. The spaces between the poems, which both link and divide them, are shades of quiet, indications of time or distance, or graphs of the vagaries of attention. In such a climate, to farm, or walk, or write, is to persist. You come to one thing and then another. Thomas A Clark lives in a fishing village on the east coast of Scotland. Four books of his poetry previously published by Carcanet explore the landscape and culture of the highlands and islands. Numerous small books, cards and editions from his own Moschatel Press investigate ways that the presentation of poetry ... read more Awards won by Thomas A Clark Short-listed, 2021 The Scottish Poetry Book of the Year (The Threadbare Coat) Long-listed, 2021 The Laurel Prize (The Threadbare Coat) Short-listed, 2017 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year Award (Farm by the Shore ) 'In short, one-breath clusters of lines, Clark meditates on the details one might observe during a contemplative and solitary walk through remote countryside. His diction is perfectly pitched and his grammar exact...this is about a man's spiritual need for the humblest manifestations of nature.' Philip Rush, The North 'Meaning is discovered between spaces, silences heard between sound...a vitally alert poet.' London Magazine 'A remarkable portrayal of our contemplative relationship with nature.' Church Times Best Books of 2017 'With radical simplicity, Thomas A Clark's writing gives us the unfussy beauty of the natural world. There's not much that I ask of poetry that isn't present here.' Matthew Welton Praise for Thomas A Clark 'Clark's stripped-back poetry is a sensory delight. His terse yet concentrated lines hold a world of feeling.... There's a darkening in tone as they proceed but the real delight is in the way that Clark, using the fewest number of words, can transport you to that landscape.' Teddy Jamieson, The Herald Magazine 'Everything is so pared back, exactly the same word can take on different nuances through juxtaposition... The effect is of distillation, concentration; the pared poetics mean there is nothing superfluous.' Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman 'The Threadbare Coat is a beautiful production, and an interesting selection' *Rupert Loydell, Stride* Magazine** 'These are love poems to the geography of Scotland and in their own inimitable way bring a clarity and vision to the 'scree slope' that 'tumbles/ into the green lochan.'.' Casey Charles, Dundee University Review of the Arts 'The Hundred Thousand Places stands at a tentative and oblique angle to the more established modes of pastoral writing. There is a beautiful moment in George Oppen's 'Psalm' when he exclaims of some deer, 'That they are there!', and the fact of the natural world's being there at all supersedes the need for description. There is plenty of description in these poems, but they too converge on a place of revelation whose name is simply 'there'.' The Guardian 'Space, pace and wild beauty are on the reader's mind throughout this tantalising collection.' Scottish Review of Books 'Thomas A Clark has produced a book-length poem of genuine visionary intentâ¦ The Hundred Thousand Places realigns our understanding of the lyric voice and of its investment in the natural world.' Poetry London	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog Not a Moment Too Soon: Frank Kuppner read more Coco Island: Christine Roseeta Walker read more that which appears: Thomas A Clark read more Come Here to This Gate: Rory Waterman read more Near-Life Experience: Rowland Bagnall read more The Silence: Gillian Clarke read more
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