Somewhere Between Rose and Black

“There is a disquiet that moves through these poems. Walker explores what it means to create a sense of home, and how the people within it build our longings around us. Beautiful work by a rising star in poetry. These are words that linger after the last page.” Angela Readman

“Claire Walker’s quiet, almost still, narrative through these poems could reflect their rural setting or the sadness within the protagonist, yet that quietness is deceptive. There are passions here amid the juxtaposition of man and stag.  These poems will have you checking your fingernails for soil, seeing antlers in your peripheral vision.” Brett Evans

Somewhere Between Rose and Black is very earthy and very enigmatic.

A sample poem from the collection may be enjoyed below.

R.R.P. £6.50

Shortlisted in Saboteur Awards 2018 Best Poetry Pamphlet category!!!

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Somewhere Between Rose and Black (with P&P options)

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Presence

I give up watching for antlers 
through the dark. Lying awake, 
I know their presence:
the gnaw of teeth against the night.

I’ve begun to identify with them. Come dawn,
I slip my feet inside the print of hooves,
touch their bite marks with my fingers, 
taste early shoots on my tongue. 

I plant for deer now; 
sow peas to feed hungry nights, 
realise nothing can grow to full height, 
accept the elegant destruction. 

REVIEWS

Reviewed in the Poetry Book Society Spring Bulletin 2018.










"Not only do the feelings of the speaking character pack a punch here, but her settings – beautifully described, from redcurrants to life-changing storms – are equally as forceful. Furthermore, Walker is an expert of killer last lines...

"Somewhere Between Rose and Black is a wonderful pamphlet. It is sincere, heartfelt, and beautifully crafted, and it speaks volumes in support of the growing talent that is Claire Walker."

Charlotte Barnes, Mad Hatter Reviews, full review here.

"Claire Walker’s Somewhere Between Rose And Black was shortlisted in this year’s Saboteur Awards, and it is easy to see why it is so well loved....

"Walker’s style is poised, trembling on a knife’s edge, eloquent on emotional frailty and unspoken intimacies. We follow the speaker through a whole narrative arc of temptation, infidelity, and the hope for forgiveness. The stag who causes damage to the garden brings trouble, but is, in the end, preferable to a pruned and suppressed landscape, reflecting the speaker’s own ‘untamed’ qualities and her desire for warmth and contact."

Becky Varley-Winter, Sabotage Reviews, full review here