The Bonniest Companie

'Jamie's shape-shifting, metaphorical imagination startles the mind awake' Guardian 'With each successive theme to which Jamie turns her vision she brings the gift of insight . . . poetry of stunning clarity and musicality' Scotsman Kathleen Jamie's first collection since the Costa-prize winning The Overhaul addresses her native Scotland and her own place within it, revealing a country at once wild and contained, rural and urban. In the words of the author: '2014 was a year of tremendous energy, and, knowing I wanted to embrace that energy and participate in my own way, I resolved to write a poem a week, following the cycle of the year.' More than any other poet writing today, Jamie's simultaneous attunement to the political, social and natural realms demonstrates their interpenetration and interdependence. Vivid with the fauna and flora of Scotland, alive with its various voices, and charged with a genuine sense of agency, her work redefines what we mean by 'poetic engagement'. Venturing into memories of childhood and family, and looking ahead to the future, The Bonniest Companie is a visionary response to a year shaped and charged by both local and global forces; it will stand as a remarkable document of our times.