At once bold and haunting, The Frost Fairs opens the door to a new country in the reader’s imagination in its exploration of the possibilities of the human heart. Whether exploring Brighton seascapes or questions of empire, there is always in McCullough’s writing an openness to seeing the world from an alternative point of view.

In this collection, longing and losing condition all we see and hear, making the impossible suddenly plausible. Surprise and the uncanny are cherished as ways of returning to us the strange leaps and enduring power of our deepest yearnings. Seasonal poem from my first collection The Frost Fairs (Salt, 2011). The array of voices here is striking: taxi drivers report their most outlandish fares and hermaphrodite statues flirt with observers abandoned lovers watch frost fairs melting on the Thames and drag queens revel in the freedoms afforded by the Blitz.įormally deft and carefully crafted, this diverse range of poems uses language that is always musical and alive. John McCulloughs first collection of poems The Frost Fairs (Salt, 2011) was a summer read in The Observer and was named a Book of. Building on several international collaborations, Seattle trumpeter Chad McCullough and Antwerp-based pianist Bram Weijters document the unique blend of their. The pieces travel from ancient Alexandria to twenty-first century bars and council estates, behind everything the vastness of the sea and sky. It explores love in many forms, from modern transatlantic relationships to hidden gay and cross-gendered lives from the past. The Frost Fairs is a compassionate book with a global and historical scope, tackling science and city life from a range of surreal yet poignant angles. Winner of the 2012 Polari PrizeĪ Book of the Year for The Independent and The Poetry School Formally deft yet deeply poignant, these poems use language filled with imagination and musicality in their exploration of the possibilities of the human heart. The Frost Fairs (ISBN: 9781844713981) The Frost Fairs is a compassionate book with a global and historical scope, tackling science and city life from a.

The Frost Fairs is a moving book with a global and historical reach, dealing with love in many forms from modern transatlantic relationships to hidden gay lives from the past.

The Frost Fairs by John McCullough