The debut collection from an electrifying new talent - a poet of philosophical depth, searching intellect, and lyric grace
'A daring, ambitious pleasure to read' ROGER ROBINSON
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Intimate and epic, dark and profound, interweaving hip hop beats with the mythology of the British Isles, Samatar Elmi's A Darker Light is an unforgettable debut collection about the gift and curse of diaspora.
With a watchful eye on the minutiae of nature's cycles of life and death, and a profound connection to the land and language that make and unmake our histories, Elmi's poems shine with grace and blaze with defiance.
Review
With music at its core, Samatar Elmi's The Epic of Cader Idris's themes resonate across history, mythology, philosophy and consciousness. The result is an expansive book that maintains a constant tune in the key of displacement - a daring, ambitious pleasure to read -- ROGER ROBINSON
Samatar seamlessly blends influences from Somali oral history, Ovidian tales and Homer's Odyssey ... Cathartic, musical, emotionally satisfying as well as erudite - POETRY BOOK SOCIETY
Elmi's whose plangent lyrics disguise a sharp bite - GUARDIAN, Best recent poetry
Samatar Elmi is engaged in the timeless project that is at poetry's root; that of bringing disparate consciousnesses into dynamic, thrilling, relation across boundaries of time and space -- KAYO CHINGONYI
About the Author
Winner of the 2021 Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, Samatar Elmi is an Obsidian Fellow and flipped eye press associate poetry editor. His poems have appeared in Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, Prairie Schooner, Magma, Iota and anthologised in More Fiya, Filigree, After Plath, and The Echoing Gallery. Elmi's 'Portrait of Colossus' was selected as a PBS Pamphlet Choice.
As Knomad Spock, his most recent album Winter of Discontent was critically acclaimed in print (Clash Magazine, Afropunk, GoldFlakePaint, Equate Magazine) and radio (BBC 6 Music, BBC Wales, Amazing Radio, Radio X). Elmi has performed live in session for Janice Long (BBC Wales), at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, for the Poetry Society, and was highlighted as a 'One To Watch' at Latitude Festival. His poem "whose plangent lyrics disguise a sharp bite", was recently commended in the Guardian poetry roundup. He also appeared on BBC Radio 4's 'Warsan Shire on a Nation of Poets'.
The Epic of Cader Idris, will be jointly published by Bloomsbury and flipped eye press in 2024. A Darker Light, Knomad Spock's second album, is due for general release on 1st November 2024.
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