James Norcliffe — Deadpan

Otago University Press 2019 Paperback, 98pp. The title of James Norcliffe\'s tenth poetry collection points deftly to the way it conveys big emotions without cracking a smile or shedding a tear. In Deadpan, Norcliffe writes in an alert, compassionate yet sceptical voice. The book\'s first section, \'Poor Yorick\', shares the thoughts of an introspective narrator as he contends with the travails of later life. \'In his hospital pyjamas\', Yorick is by turns cheerful and beset by loss, laughing and weeping, comparing the stages of life (and death). The following sections - \'Scan\', \'Trumpet Vine\', \'Telegraph Road\' and \'Travellers in a small Ford\' - reach around to mine experience in a world where \'nothing lasts\'; not childhood, place nor identity. (ISBN: 9781988531755). Near Mint.