Rough Music is the old English name for a custom of public scapegoating. This collection, read here by the author, is full of disturbing musical echoes, in which brilliant renewals of carol, charm, folksong and ballad explore themes of violence, loss and belonging. Fiona Sampson's characteristic lyric intensity deftly fuses metaphysics and politics with the vernacular of dailylife.
Fiona Sampson
Fiona Sampson has published fifteen books, including works of poetry, volumes on the philosophy of language and on the writing process. Her poetry has been published and broadcast in more than thirty languages and her many translations include the work of Jaan Kaplinski.
The poem "Trumpeldor Beach" was shortlisted for the 2006 Forward prize and her volume Common Prayer was shortlisted for the 2007 T. S. Eliot Prize. She has won the Cholmondeley Award (2009), the 2003 Zlaten Prsten for international writing (Macedonian Foundation for Culture and Sciences), a Hawthornden Fellowship, the Newdigate Prize; and awards from the Arts Councils of England and Wales and the Society of Authors. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. and was elected to the Council in 2011. Rough Music was shortlisted for both the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize 2010 for best collection.
"Rough Music" is published by Carcanet Press
