{"product_id":"the-shores-of-vaikus-paperback","title":"The Shores of Vaikus - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePhilip Gross\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this edgy homage to Estonia, the country of his refugee father's birth, T S Eliot Prizewinner Philip Gross continues to develop the subtle conversation between words and silence that is at the core of his poetry.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt this collection's heart, the shapeshifting prose-poem monologues of this book's central sequence, \u003cem\u003eEvi And The Devil, \u003c\/em\u003eweave a haunted landscape out of folktale, dark humour, the routine atrocities of history and a vividly present sense of place. The island of Vaikus (one of several words for silence in Estonian) is Estonia condensed, refracted in the dark waters of a bog pool. The voice that speaks with such compelling otherness is a channelling of a culture and a disposition often drowned out in successive occupations by the empires of the day, but always alive, and whispering. The resulting book is both a bold departure and a drawing together of the whole range of a writing life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn in Cornwall, son of an Estonian wartime refugee, \u003cb\u003ePhilip Gross\u003c\/b\u003e has lived in Plymouth, Bristol and South Wales, where he was Professor of Creative Writing at Glamorgan University (USW). His 28th book of poetry, \u003ci\u003eThe Shores of Vaikus\u003c\/i\u003e, is published by Bloodaxe in 2025. His previous collection, \u003ci\u003e The Thirteenth Angel \u003c\/i\u003e(2023), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2022. That followed eleven previous books with Bloodaxe, including\u003ci\u003e Between the Islands\u003c\/i\u003e (2020), \u003ci\u003eA Bright Acoustic\u003c\/i\u003e (2017), \u003ci\u003eLove Songs of Carbon\u003c\/i\u003e (2015), winner of the Roland Mathias Poetry Award and a Poetry Book Society Recommendation;\u003ci\u003e Deep Field\u003c\/i\u003e (2011), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation;\u003ci\u003e The Water Table\u003c\/i\u003e (2009), winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize 2009; and \u003ci\u003eChanges of Address: Poems 1980-1998\u003c\/i\u003e (2001), his selection from earlier books including\u003ci\u003e The Ice Factory\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCat's Whisker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Son of the Duke of Nowhere\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e I.D.\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Wasting Game\u003c\/i\u003e. His collaboration with photographer Simon Denison, \u003ci\u003eI Spy Pinhole Eye\u003c\/i\u003e (Cinnamon Press, 2009), won the Wales Book of the Year Award 2010.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 96\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 8.4 x 5.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 14, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42290131337351,"sku":"9781780377179","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/991fc499d8e4b8fc92a9706a4f02b715.webp?v=1737965194","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/the-shores-of-vaikus-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}