The Blue Coat

"The Blue Coat" by Elizabeth Smither, published by Auckland University Press. In The Blue Coat, Elizabeth Smither examines the quotidian and the quirky for resonance, for contemplation, for verve. Here 'poetry has a place among other bodies', but also in enclosed gardens, in Chinese restaurants, in margins and in memory – 'sometimes open and hospitable, sometimes secret, behind dark hedges'. Whimsical and tender, this latest collection demonstrates Smither's talent for illuminating the poetry in the everyday – an out-of-season daffodil, a chipped Limoges plate. She is a master of the unfolding poem, in lines that take you from a single image to the cusp of something larger. At times meditative, at times playful, even slightly subversive, this collection impresses with a surety of word, a deft touch and a polished harmony. Book details: published 2013. Order now on BookShops.in with fast, reliable delivery across India.