{"product_id":"the-dens-by-michael-brown","title":"The Dens by Michael Brown","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSW18\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003ePerhaps it was always summer there,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003ewhite heat rising by degrees from the island,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003eour terraced home.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e                                   \u003c\/span\u003eRemember\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003ethe colour of the door, those dog-days —\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e                                                     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003ehow we played half-dressed in dirt and earth outside.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e                                    \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003eDad made us pick up stones.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e                                               \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003eFor hours we ate the light.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eFahrenheit.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003eSometimes, half bored, when you weren’t there\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003e(that precarious, passing phase)\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e                                                 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003eI’d scale the high bars of the rusted climbing frame,\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e          \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003eescape our densely constructed space,\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e           \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003emy outlandish child’s shape reaching through years\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e             \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003eto risk air, the burning metal of the last rung.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"layout-grid-mode: char;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e      \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Brown \u003c\/b\u003eis a poet and PHD student at \u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;\"\u003eLoughborough University. His research is concerned with the relationship between depression and lyric poetry.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;\"\u003eIn 2024 he won the Overton Poetry Prize. His work has recently been longlisted twice in the National Poetry Competition.\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eMichael’s poetry\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003e has been featured widely in magazines including \u003ci\u003ePoetry Salzburg\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMagma,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ePoetry Wales\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Rialto.\u003c\/i\u003e In 2017 he was awarded a New Writing North Award. He has several previous pamphlets including \u003ci\u003eUndersong\u003c\/i\u003e (Salt, 2013), \u003ci\u003eLocations for a Soul\u003c\/i\u003e (Templar, 2016), \u003ci\u003eRight of Way\u003c\/i\u003e (Maytree, 2023) and \u003ci\u003eOur Fathers\u003c\/i\u003e (Loughborough University, 2024). \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eHis first collection,\u003ci\u003e Where Grown Men Go,\u003c\/i\u003e was published by Salt in 2019. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eThe Dens \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eis a sensitive, expertly crafted exploration of a working class boyhood, and the journey through to manhood. The poet explores his relationship to place, both north and south, and to his parents, particularly his father. There is a delicacy and a tenderness to these poems, amid an atmosphere of Heimweh, a longing for origins, of a time and place which is no longer available except in the landscapes of memory and imagination. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eLike a Terence Davies film, small details are used to recreate this hallowed time and place, ‘to invent the half lives we all must live’:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003e.. we show up in outdoor clothes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003ea sheriff’s badge, the camouflage\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;\"\u003eof a dog-eared army hat (\u003cb\u003eGangland\u003c\/b\u003e)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blueprint Poetry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57905070276990,"sku":null,"price":7.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1331\/9925\/files\/7ED499F6-0976-4F03-A857-F78C6CE503CE-IMG_0032.jpg?v=1787565943","url":"https:\/\/www.poetrybooks.co.uk\/products\/the-dens-by-michael-brown","provider":"The Poetry Book Society","version":"1.0","type":"link"}