Mermaids Explained

the long version

Since 1976, Christopher Reid has been startling and delighting readers of poetry. His philosphic concerns are often expressed in small, domestic details, but, as with the Metaphysical poets he admires, the effect heightens his poetry's seriousness and impact. Reid finds significance in the marginal, the endangered, the apocryphal, and the absurd. His verse, which has earned him both the distinguished Hawthornden and Somerset Maugham Prizes, is subversive and highly intelligent. The Pultizer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic provides a welcome introduction to one of England's most distinguished and original voices.