Books

Review by Francis Sheppard

THE TROUBLE WITH performance poetry, or poetry written for performance, is that delivery tends to be the consideration. Writers are therefore beckoned by possible rhymes. A rhyme that answers the dictates of a rhyme-scheme will, at worst, substitute for meaning. This is not the case with the writing of Laura Liptrot – but I sense the paramountcy of poem-as-artefact over poem as deep-dive into the underlying sensibility that we all do share. In this immersion, the reader makes meanings that perhaps apply only to the reader, way beyond, perhaps, what the poet had intended.

Having got that grouse out of the way I’d say I am charmed by this collection. These poems are instances of the spirit speaking. Very much does the verse dwell on, as befits a book entitled ‘Out of place’, self-identity and self-belief, and through it she shows her vast fluency, and her array of skills in manipulating language through rhythm and rhyme.

‘Out of place’ begins with Liptrot’s identity as an artist and its formation, development and expression. The writing dwells on love, that of her parents from each other, that of her earlier self for others, and of we in the world for one another. Despite her acknowledgment that the world is a rough, tough place, viz Flight where the sequence features knife-crime, there is positivity to be found even in the terrible incident described. The spirit is indestructible. There is nothing to fear.

Hard-won confidence, the processes by which such self-assurance is gained, makes some of the narrative of the collection. Liptrot’s poetic breadth extends to the passage of time, ancestral heritage, and the stories one learns as a child. From the imposter-syndrome theme of ‘Out of place’ successive recent publications explore environment, fantasy and myth, through prose and verse. Always, the verse is sustained by clear diction. As well as being an astonishing performer, she is a good read.