Barnsley-born writer Bobby Gant brings us A Decade of Drinking with Ghosts, his first poetry collection. Of course, SNACK was there to get our hands on a copy, because we’re all about this creative stuff and so are you.
Poetry can be difficult, and in fact too many writers seem to get off on confusing the masses with 60-syllable words used to describe the sky, or their farts, or something equally as mundane. Then you have the other poets, the ones who understand clearly just how insane the world is itself, and take a more accessible approach to their wordings. Bobby Gant is such a poet.
A Decade of Drinking with Ghosts is not a simple collection – in fact it’s incredibly complex – but you’ll get it. Highlights include opening poem ‘Thirties’: the last two lines alone will make you question way too many things and read on in the naive hope of getting answers. There’s also ‘The Rabbit on the Path’, which is an odyssey over four pages, visceral and haunting. My personal favourite is a much shorter piece, ‘Second-Hand Camera’, which invokes longing and unanswered questions.
Across thirty poems of various lengths and styles, Gant holds up a magnifying glass to the human condition, and it ain’t always pretty. The imagery created is often sombre but nonetheless achingly beautiful and thought-provoking. His informal, unflowery language will appeal to those who appreciate honesty and words they can relate to, and I’ve no doubt those with a deeper understanding of the craft will enjoy these contemporary pieces just as much.
If you’re a fan of Richard Siken, Andrew McMillan, or Bukowski then you’ll want a copy of this book.
A Decade of Drinking with Ghosts is out now, published by Razur Cuts. Available here.
