I think this is going to take a little time to sink in.
I've read 2 of Simon Armitage's translations of poems from old English, and have adored both of them. This is the first time I've tried his own compositions. The subject matter is dark, it is based on the murder of Sophie Lancaster. in this a couple were set upon and as she tried to shield his beaten body, so they beat her and she subsequently died. This sequence of poems are told in the first person, from her point of view. The headlines tend to depersonalise the effect, you see the crime but not the person it happened to, and this aims to give her a voice again, to make it have happened to an individual, with a history, a family and a future ahead of her.
It works.
The poetry has a lot in common with the alliterative style that Armitage has carried over in his translations. It is about more than just rhyme, there's rhythm and structure to the lines and the work as a whole that is not at all dull or repetitive. And the use of everyday language and turn of phrase makes it grab the attention. At only 30 pages it is very short, but it packs a punch and leaves an impression bigger than its size. ( )

This very short book contains Simon Armitage's poems which were part of the award-winning BBC radio production, and are told form the point of view of Sophie Lancaster. It is a testament to the power of language, poetry and the author's human insight that the book is so incredibly moving in its few handfuls of pages. Ideally seek out the radio programme to hear them being read interspersed with narrative from Sophie's mother, but even in written form this is stirring and powerful stuff. ( )

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The 2007 Lancashire murder victim's story told by her mother Sylvia. ( )

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The 2007 Lancashire murder victim's story told by her mother Sylvia. ( )

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The 2007 Lancashire murder victim's story told by her mother Sylvia. ( )