The Lost Art of Staring into Fires

Selected Poems from the University of Winchester, 2010-2022

The Lost Art of Staring into Fires is the first collection from the vibrant poetry scene at The University of Winchester. Gathering together work written between 2010 and 2022 by thirty-seven authors (some current students, others who have gone on to receive critical acclaim), this book contains a vast array of styles, forms, and subject matter, ranging from the shocking to the hilarious, the thought-provoking to the abstract. So come and laugh with us, shiver with us, grit your teeth with us, or even let your mouth hang agape in appreciation with us. How you react is up to you, but these poems will make you feel, whether you like it or not.

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‘These are poems with swagger and verve, not afraid to take risks. The twenty-first century is no stranger to brutality and these poems can land punches as well as resist, or they can drill through with precision and wit. This anthology is full of cracking poems; it leaves an indelible record of poetic nerve and creative drive.’
– Julian Stannard

‘Inside this book language is at play, words find new and unexpected juxtapositions, fresh meaning is loosed into the world to renew it. But there are warnings, too. “The future remains a proprietary feature,” as Ian Goldberg reminds us, ruefully, and here you will find fear, even terror, cheek-by-jowl with passion and invention. Fizzing with energy but always shapely, in the way that the imagination is shapely and shaping, this is poetry adequate to the strangeness and rawness of our time.’
– Mark Rutter