<p>This is a selection from "Side Effects", "Standing To" and another volume to be published in 1990. As Ursula Fanthorpe's critical reputation grows she also stands a better-than-average chance of actually being read. Her work is accessible, particularly to a female readership.</p>

Selected Poems

Literature & Fiction

Fanthorpe, U.A.

Poetry

Penguin Uk

Side effects

Harry Chambers/Peterloo Poets

, 76 pages, SIGNED by U. A. Fanthorpe poet on half title page

Voices off

H. Chambers/Peterloo Poets

Selected poems

Peterloo Poets

Not My Best Side: Selected Poems

Religion & Spirituality

Baylor University Press

<p>When she died, in 2009, Anthony Thwaite described U.A. Fanthorpe as a 'smiling subversive with a voice like bird-song'. An encouraging example to all late developers, this particular bird's voice took its time: she didn't become a poet until she was 45. But these examples of her very earliest work show the latent mastery and the rapid development of the craft that would bring her wide critical acclaim and an affectionate general readership. The mysteries of the trade gradually reveal themselves as rooted in a wide and uncensored range of subject-matter, a life-time's love of words, and an intuitive grasp of the mechanics of form and voice. Recognising her role so late, she was a woman in a hurry; there wasn't time for self-consciousness or grandiose notions of 'vocation'. 'A poet,' she said, 'is a smuggler. He imports things clandestinely which are not supposed to have got through the customs.' Poetry 'happened to me', she would say. Her job? To listen, to pass it on.</p>

Beginner's Luck

Bloodaxe Books

Safe as houses

Safe as Houses

Story Line Press

U.A. Fanthorpe's Christmas Poems gathers together the poems she wrote and sent to friends as Christmas cards from 1974 to 2002. Now readers can enjoy Fanthorpe's yearly output in its entirety. Her subject matter covers a broad range of seasonal characters, from angels to personified Christmas trees, and a variety of styles to match, from moments of beautiful lyricism to the comically touching Gloucestershire foxes begging baby Jesus to visit: 'Come live wi we under Westridge / Where the huntin folk be few'. Fanthorpe is witty and highly original, rethinking the Christmas story from quirky angles, to create her own alternative Christmas legend – from the cat and the sheep-dog left out of the stable, to the wicked fairy's gifts for Jesus. Above all, these poems are celebrations of Christmas joy and love.

Christmas Poems

Enitharmon Press

Collected Poems

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fanthorpe, U.A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Fanthorpe, U.A.