Weird, Wild and Wonderful: The poetry world of James Carter

Here neatly packaged with Neal Layton’s lively and expressive illustrations to add a visual dimension to the words is a collection of poems from James Carter. Many will be familiar but there are some new additions as well. Three sections reflect different aspects of his work. We open with the Weird where we find reflections on ‘What Makes Me Me’ jostling for attention with electric guitars, conversations with a fly and footballs. Then we enter the Wild to meet wolves, a gorilla, cats (scary), even a dung beatle. And finally Wonderful for reflective poems on the night sky, people, poetry itself. None of the poems are long – some very short, some shaped – humour runs through them but never overwhelms. The language is accessible, chosen with care to convey the poet’s thoughts and spark the imagination of the reader and create an image on the page. These are poems to be read aloud as well as read to oneself. They de-mystify poetry and will provide a foundation from which a lifelong love and appreciation can grow.