The Battle

A deeply authentic collection of poems, offering moments of rare beauty. It's always brave to speak openly about depression. It's even more courageous to shape and craft a public work from this most sacred experience. With stunning tenderness and exquisite language, Owen exposes a world of hidden truths. Ones many of us can relate to and understand. An absolute must read for all concerned with the human condition, and the power of words to transform.- Helen Calcutt This new collection by Antony Owen is commendable for its risk-taking themes and does not shy away from taboo subjects. Owen takes the reader with him right to the edge, and then over it, through the personal to the universal and then even further, to the point of collective defenestration. As he says himself 'life is too precious to be timid'. This timely collection shines a spotlight on suicide, autistic related depression, and those soul-destroying alpha attitudes like 'man up', that prevail in the workplace and beyond. These poems demand attention, seek recognition, plead for intervention, and beg for release. It is an unsettling, yet immersive work, that growls through its teeth. This straight-talking, no holds barred, narrative resonates well beyond the page, exposing a fiercely, tenacious tenderness beneath.- Chaucer Cameron  Owen's work is vitally important now more than ever. A true and remarkable writer who wears his heart like the Coventry City crest.- Jamie Thrasivoulou