The Insomnia Poems

By Grace Nichols

In her latest collection, The Insomnia Poems, Grace Nichols explores those nocturnal hours when Sleep (the thief who nightly steals your brain) is hard to come by, and the politics of the day hard to shut out, never mind the lavender-scented pillow. Here memories of her own Guyana childhood mingle with the sleeping spectres of dreams and folk legends such as Sleeping Beauty. A lyrical interweaving of tones and textures invites the reader into the zones between sleep and no-sleep, between the solitude of the dark and the awakening of the light. The Insomnia Poems is Grace Nichols's first new collection since Picasso, I Want My Face Back (2009). Neither that collection nor this one is included in her Bloodaxe retrospective, I Have Crossed an Ocean (2010).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books
• Release date: Feb 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781780373409

Grace Nichols

Grace Nichols is one of Britain's most highly-acclaimed poets. Born in Guyana, she moved to England in 1977. She has won many prizes, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Her A & C Black titles include Come on into My Tropical Garden and Give Yourself a Hug. Grace Nichols was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and has lived in England since 1977. She has written many books for both children and adults and has won, among other awards, the 1983 Commonwealth Poetry Prize. She was poet-in-residence at the Tate Gallery, London (1999-2000). Grace Nichols performs her work internationally and is one of the poets on the UK national curriculum.

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