A Year in the New Life

This new book of poems finds fresh ways of navigating a time of continual surprise and uncertainty. Jack Underwood’s debut collection, Happiness (2015), was celebrated for its unconventional and daring ‘conversational, arresting . . . weird, singular’ ( Guardian ). Such qualities are on accomplished display in this anticipated new collection, as the poems mature and move on to a wide range of preoccupations, including imminent societal collapse and current riots; the limits of masculinity and complexities of fatherhood; as well as uncanny, often amusing scenarios, such as serving drinks to a gathering of fifteen babies or group kissing in Empathy Class. Throughout, incongruous and domestic subjects re-align in skewed lyrics and thought experiments, all presented with a generosity and tenderness that makes the poet so unmistakable – and indispensable for the strange times in which we live.