Black Country [Paperback]

SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORWARD PRIZE BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2014 *PBS Recommendation 2014*

When I became a bird, Lord, nothing could not stop me…

In this collection, Liz Berry takes flight: to Wrens Nest, Gosty Hill, Tipton-on-Cut; to the places of home. The poems move from the magic of childhood—bostin fittle at Nanny’s, summers before school—into deeper, darker territory: sensual love, enchanted weddings, and the promise of new life. In Berry’s hands, the ordinary is transformed: her characters shift shapes, her eye is unusual, her ear attuned to the sounds of the Black Country, with vowels ferrous as nails, consonants / you could lick the coal from. Ablaze with energy, and full of the rich dialect of the West Midlands, this is an incandescent debut from a poet of dazzling talent and verve.

Liz Berryreceived an Eric Gregory Award, an Arvon-Jerwood Mentorship, and she is the author of a pamphlet,The Patron Saint of Schoolgirls. Her work has appeared inPoetry LondonandPoetry Review, and she has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. In 2011, her poem ‘Birmingham Roller’ was commended in the National Poetry Competition, and ‘Sow’ won second prize in the Poetry London competition. In 2012, ‘Bird’ received first prize in the Poetry London competition. She works as an infant school teacher and is the assistant poetry editor atAmbitmagazine.