“Art of Insomnia” – Peter A (eBook PDF Edition)

Description

‘There occurs an uprooting’ writes Peter A. in Helenium One and Only, a poem from his deeply moving collection Art of Insomnia, and this line epitomises the book’s theme – the sudden absence of a much-loved wife, lost suddenly and tragically. The music of this grieving collection is various – sometimes staccato, stark, and direct, (‘I have to escape / the persistence of kindness’), sometimes fluid and unfurling, long single stanzas rushing down the page, other times nakedly confessional or poignantly self-critical (‘Some people think you’re better/ than you actually are’), and other times spare, and with careful end rhyme (‘Though in moments still/quiet teardrops spill’). An orchestral collection of many parts, it is enriching in its diversity, a sustained song of grief which is compelling and affecting.

Art of Insomnia is a moving conversation with a loved wife, and more broadly with anyone who has suffered a loss. It is a eulogy for that which is lost and yet equally a brave celebration of the solaces to be found in life – friendship, community and, as this vital and potent collection proves, in poetry itself.’

– Anna Saunders – author of Burne Jones and the Fox, Ghosting for Beginners, and Feverfew, (Indigo Dreams)

---

About Peter A

Peter A. is Scottish by birth and residence and also holds Irish citizenship. He won first prize in the 2016 Paisley Spree Fringe Poetry Competition. His poetry has been published online, in film poems and paper publications including Laldy, Spindrift, Poems for Grenfell Tower, A Kind of Stupidity and Bridges or Walls?. During 2020, his poems appeared in A Kist of Thistles, Words from Battlefield, Poets Against Trump, The Angry Manifesto (Thatcher volume) and Black Lives Matter – Poems for a New World.

You can find out more about Peter’s poetry at his website – peterawriter.com

 

---

Product details