Despite apparently having more time since mid-March I haven’t been able to read like I used to. So I’ve gone back to re-read things I’ve enjoyed to ease me back into the habit of reading. I thought it would be helpful to share.

I’ll start with Winter with Eva, a poetry pamphlet from V Press. This was published earlier in 2020 and when it arrived I sat down one Saturday and read it from cover to cover. Elaine was a year or so ahead of me in taking the MA Writing Poetry but I wasn’t familiar with her work.

The pamphlet is a narrative sequence of poems and keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next.  It’s the story of two people, Eva from Romania who now lives in Brexit Britain and her boyfriend Sean. It’s a love story but more than that it’s also a reflection of how Britain has felt since 2016 with its suspicion pf strangers and foreigners and how unkind we used to be sometimes.

Reading the sequence for a second time I was aware of how much hope that was in the poems, like the new shoots of spring

the way you turn your face towards the sun

and close your eyes

During this strange time of staying at home and social isolation Elaine had been reading a poem a day on the website and you can also find details about how to buy your own copy of Winter with Eva.