Render by Billy Ramsell is now available to pre-order
Render, the new collection by acclaimed poet Billy Ramsell, is now available to pre-order! Out on 4 June, Render plunges the reader into the vibrant setting of Barcelona in the second half of the 20th century. A compelling character study, the book is presented as the selected works of a fictional poet: Alberto Cenas, the lonely scion of a wealthy Catalan family.
Described as ‘voluble, vulnerable and always unexpected’ by Nick Laird, and ‘a radiant and passionate tour of the senses’ by Dean Browne, Render has been recommended by the Poetry Book Society as a summer selection. The wonderful cover art is by Luke Bird.
There is a house on Buenos Aires Street
full of tapestries, such silver; implausible things
that on waking I can’t keep straight at all.
You can’t travel there on foot, old boy.
No taxicab, no tram will ferry you
close to its garden, its impeccable cellar.
But I know for certain I’ll be welcomed there
by Uncle Jordi and Uncle Sebastià,
by my brother come back from the snow.
There’ll be silk sauces, beef cheeks, codfish stew.
Arguments? None that can’t be washed away
by a cask of swaggering tempranillo. We’ll eat.
We’ll sit out beneath the strawberry tree till dawn.
We’ll broach a cask from Priorat, a cask from Terra Alta.
Billy Ramsell’s first two poetry collections are Complicated Pleasures (Dedalus Press, 2007) and The Architect’s Dream of Winter (Dedalus Press, 2013). The Architect’s Dream of Winter was shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award and recently appeared in Italian translation. He was awarded the Ireland Chair of Poetry bursary for 2013 and has been shortlisted for several other prizes. His recent work has appeared in Poetry, Poetry London, The Poetry Review and elsewhere.
