"In Robert Powell's wonderful new collection we have poems of wisdom and insight, poems which combine lambent descriptions of time and place, of a natural and a spiritual world, all haunted by a younger self. Powell's ability to understand and convey the messiness, tragedies and beauties of life, demonstrate what a very fine poet he is. Full of startling observations, these are the thoughts and perceptions of a mature writer, gloriously mining free verse and more formal poetic forms to brilliant effect. I read in a kind of hushed awe." - James Nash

Robert Powell was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1954, and now lives in York. He is the Director of Beam, an arts, architecture and education charity based in Wakefield. His first collection Harvest of Light was published in 2007 by Canada's Stone Flower Press, and was adapted into a live performance for Ilkley Literature Festival in 2009. He was the winner of the 2012 Elmet Prize, and his poems have appeared in Orbis and The Rialto, as well as numerous Canadian journals.