Gravity for Beginners

In Kevin Crossley-Holland’s first new collection of poems for six years, time and thought and memory – the breath of life – are the prevailing winds, while much of the ground it inhabits is the ‘heavenly squelch’ of his own north Norfolk where ‘the word on the tip of your tongue may be sacramental’.

“Crossley-Holland uncovers not only words but an entire landscape which haunts and is rich in echoes.” – Helen Dunmore, The Observer

“His language has been honed by the Norfolk and Suffolk climate itself, and has the polish of split flint.” – Ronald Blythe

“His poetry is accessible yet uncompromisingly contemporary…” – John Greening, Country Life

“It takes a pause in the familiar current of one’s consciousness to come to one’s accustomed place afresh and – as Eliot put it – ‘know the place for the first time’. […] The ability to see the essence behind the appearance is an art in which Crossley-Holland has few, if any, equals.” – Grahame Davies, Book 2.0