Oyster Baby
Poetry by Maureen Almond

Maureen Almond, author of Hot and Tailor Tacks, is back with a new collection of poems that transform Teesside and Teessiders into a mythic, yet recognisable, landscape.

"Witty, well judged and wise, these poems of strange happenings and shape changing never lose their bearings. They are northern in their frankness, their hard won truths and their refusal to leave out humour. Maureen Almond's voice remains steady through all the pains and losses, all the variety of form and pitch: outspoken, supportive, tender and just plain human. Had Ovid plucked up courage to visit Teesside, he couldn't have found a better Virgil for his guide." - Desmond Graham

"Maureen Almond's latest collection is a typically vivacious display, in which the nymphs of classical myth are seen in a distinctly Northern light. Displaced - or are they? - to Teesside, the like of Chloe and Procris pursue and are pursued by their middle-aged swains across a blasted pastoral landscape (including, of course, Swainby). This is a tender and funny book, much concerned with the unkind metamorphoses of ageing. Whether depicting biting lovers or the sectarian passions of a Catholic upbringing, the brings a sensuous eye to sonnet and free verse. 'Fragile as a bag of bottles' it may be, but the love that is able to ensure is invoked and celebrated here with real authority." - W. N. Herbert

Maureen Almond was born in County Durham and lives with her husband and daughter in Teesside. She has held writing residences with BBC Radio Cleveland, Nordaf, Hexham Mini LitFest, Stockton on line and the Newcastle Education Action Zone. She has been published by North, Diamond Twig, Envoi, Magma, Staple, Orbis, Rain Dog and on the Poettext, BBC, and Franks Casket websites. Maureen Almond won the NAWG Free Verse Award in 1996. Her pamphlet Hot (1997) and full length collection Tailor Tacks (1999) are published by Mudfog Press.

£5.99 paperback ISBN 1-903914-09-4