His language is exciting and it feels to me that he's a truly 21st-century writer, taking inspiration from all over the place, unafraid of barriers and conventions.
-- Ian McMillan * The Times *
Inventive, academically aware, fearless and hugely enjoyable.
-- Nick Laird * The Telegraph *
Thank heaven for Luke Kennard. As thought-provoking and poignant as it's witty, this collection confirms him as an exceptional - in every sense - voice in poetry today.
-- Sarah Crown * Poetry Review *
Luke Kennard writes vibrant, original poems that stick in your mind for a long time and enliven your imagination.
-- Sophie Hannah
Kennard pushes the bounds of lyric taste and develops new modes for the prose poem, and for serious comedy in British poetry.
-- Todd Swift * Poetry London *
Luke Kennard is one of the half-dozen thoroughly original poets of his generation... No one else has been able to navigate so cleverly the choppy waters he's claimed for his own.
-- Todd Swift * Poetry London *
Kennard's work is clever, fascinating and with an off the wall, tongue in cheek sort of humour that is a joy to read or listen to.
* Sabotage *
He has something of the holy fool about him in his ability to wrongfoot more erudite, supposedly rational minds, and the way his madness reveals flashes of perspicacity.
* Phoenix *
This collection includes Kennard's most personal and political poems. It closes with Jeremiah, a monologue from a businessman who consistently provides thrilling answers to a question a student poses: What are poets for? Kennard admires the American writer Ben Lerner who recently published a novel in which his narrator claims: Poems aren't about anything. Kennard might concur but, with urgency and generosity, A Lost Expression addresses the world we live in now.
-- Max Liu * The Independent *
His language is exciting and it feels to me that he's a truly 21st-century writer, taking inspiration from all over the place, unafraid of barriers and conventions.
-- Ian McMillan * The Times *
Inventive, academically aware, fearless and hugely enjoyable.
-- Nick Laird * The Telegraph *
Thank heaven for Luke Kennard. As thought-provoking and poignant as it's witty, this collection confirms him as an exceptional - in every sense - voice in poetry today.
-- Sarah Crown * Poetry Review *
Luke Kennard writes vibrant, original poems that stick in your mind for a long time and enliven your imagination.
-- Sophie Hannah
This collection includes Kennard's most personal and political poems. It closes with Jeremiah, a monologue from a businessman who consistently provides thrilling answers to a question a student poses: What are poets for? Kennard admires the American writer Ben Lerner who recently published a novel in which his narrator claims: Poems aren't about anything. Kennard might concur but, with urgency and generosity, A Lost Expression addresses the world we live in now.
-- Max Liu * The Independent *
