Nick Laird is one of the finest poets writing in the English language today. He has been described as “exceptionally gifted” by Paul Muldoon. Among his many accolades and honours are the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Betty Trask Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Somerset Maugham Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. The latter award was granted to Laird in 2022 for his poem “Up Late”, published in Granta. That poem lent its title to his 2023 collection, Up Late, published by Faber & Faber.

The assignment to review Up Late was a complex and demanding one. The collection is a largely dark examination of our present world and its many ills, particularly as refracted through the lens of COVID-19 and the lockdowns and social isolation the virus necessitated. The poet is one of gargantuan reputation and the poem that sits at the centre of the new collection is a tribute, a paean, to his father who died in a care home unable to see any visitors. Difficult territory for a reviewer, to be sure. But, as despairing and bleak as it can be in places, Up Late is a collection of many colours and textures and its artistry is breathtaking.

To read my review of Nick Laird’s Up Late, click here.