An Absence of RuinsAn Absence of Ruins was originally published in 1967, a period of decolonising ferment in Jamaica. This important and much sought after Caribbean classic is now lovingly restored to print, with an introduction by Jeremy Poynting. Patterson writes in the tradition of Dostoyevsky and Camus, creating a spiritual heir to the unnamed I of Notes from the Underground or La Chute. Through the tangled love life of one Alexander Blackman, Patterson offers up a

was one of the key poets of the 1930s

who died in Paris

The shorter poems which comprise the second half of the book are

The cover artist is Zena Assi from Lebanon

featuring a wrapped edition of this anthology for dog-lovers

Count Basie

playwright and director

he edited the 2003 Salmon Poetry anthology Fire and Ice: Nine Poets from Scandinavia and the North

” - Alan Jude Moore

Prize-winning Saudi Arabian author Raja Alem recounts her passion for reading as a child and the world authors she read

My Lou I shall sleep tonight in the trenches

‘Rich with anecdotes and one man’s observations on the music he loves