Dances Learned Last Night gathers together two decades of Michael Donaghys poetry in one volume, and includes several previously uncollected pieces.

Uncompromisingly intelligent, Donaghy is often described as a `modern metaphysical, though his range has always been far broader. Here the reader will find an array of masks and voices that fit for quick changes songs of desire and loss back to back with spring-loaded jokes and chinese-box riddles. From all this Donaghy emerges as that rarest of beasts: a poet who is genuinely extending the tradition.

`Among the finest poets of his generation Robert McPhillips

`The artistry of Donaghys worl seems to me exemplary Sean OBrien

`The fine-tuned precision of a twelve-speed bike Alfred Corn