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that which appears

Thomas A Clark

Cover of That Which Appears by Thomas A. Clark
10% off all versions
Categories: 21st Century, British, Ecopoetry, Scottish
Imprint: Carcanet Poetry
Publisher: Carcanet Press
Available as:
Paperback (366 pages)
(Pub. Apr 2024)
9781800173859
£19.99 £17.99
eBook (EPUB) Needs ADE!
(Pub. Apr 2024)
9781800173866
£15.99 £14.39
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  • Description
  • Author
  • Awards
  • Reviews
  • that which appears gathers together four book-length sequences; The Hundred Thousand Places, Yellow & Blue and Farm by the Shore, all previously published by Carcanet, plus the title book, that which appears, published by Paragon Press (1994).

    The poems gathered in that which appears emerge from a practice of walking in the varied landscapes of the highlands and islands of Scotland. They attempt to attend and respond to the evidence, to 'snow on moss on stone', with 'small continual adjustments'.

    A conviction grows that environmental damage can only begin to be repaired by many careful and repeated acts of attention. How can we move here with resourcefulness and least intrusion? Can poetry be generous in response while subject to an ethic of care for place and particularity? Can it provide spaces that will allow for, that welcome and celebrate, that which appears?
    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 )
    'This is a serious and beautiful book.'

    Kathleen McPhilemy, The High Window

    '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

    Praise for Thomas A Clark 'The Threadbare Coat is a beautiful production, and an interesting selection'

    Rupert Loydell, Stride Magazine

    '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
    '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 intent… 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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