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Selected Poems 1956-96 [+ Intro. ] (University of
Salzburg 1996) This substantial SELECTED POEMS of 40 years includes a section of new work together with a long and illuminating introduction by the poet. ALEXIS LYKIARD is in addition author of 9 novels, most of them bestsellers. His extraordinary and controversial prose debut, The Summer Ghosts, written in his teens, was first published during the mid-1960s. Greek-born, but also a well known translator from the French, Lykiard is particularly notable for his exceptionally vivid yet accurate versions of many avant-garde classics - Lautréamont's Complete Works, and novels by Jarry and Apollinaire, alongside Surrealist prose and poetry, Aragon, Prévert and Pierre Mac Orlan. “Alexis Lykiard is the true lineal heir to Lord Rochester and Dean Swift. He is an unsettling poet to read…Forty years devotion to one craft – that of Writer. And his earthly reward from this philistine and anti-intellectual English society? An obscurity and relative poverty that is the inverse of his talent and contribution he has made to British literary culture… The voice of quality and reason in an age of kitsch… This book is certainly a must buy” [Kevin Bailey, HQ] “His range of metrical forms is considerable, and as with any good musician he takes us through the full repertoire of his craft in this fine book”[William Oxley, Orbis] “Full of excellent material. If literary editors knew their stuff it would be widely reviewed” [Alastair Niven] “Lykiard ought to be one of our best known and highly-regarded poets. If you like poetry at all you can’t fail to be delighted by this. An excellent collection to be returned to again and again” [Alan Dent, Penniless Press] www.pennilesspress.co.uk “Top notch” [Peter Finch] “An excellent book” [David Caddy] “As poet, novelist and translator, Alexis Lykiard has won many admirers over the years, but the early novels apart, his work has not received the popular attention it deserves. He has created a body of work that is erudite and witty but never obscure… Lykiard’s language is vivid, breathtaking in its sheer physicality, while still suggesting more… This Selected Poems succeeds in bringing together the best work of a long writing life; it is fascinating to trace such a body of work through the extraordinary post-war decades… The poet’s humanity and humour are sustained throughout his various shifts of form and content.” [David Woolley, Poetry Wales] “A noteworthy poet” [Martin Bax, Ambit] www.ambitmagazine.co.uk “The heir to my friend Louis Macneice” [Dominic Behan]
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