On Balance
Shoestring Press, 2023
Available end of November 2023
“ … a uniquely readable poet of great integrity.”
Andy Brown
“Harvey is a fine poet. What is most striking is the insight into the minds and hearts of others – there is a tenderness here that many British poets do not risk.”
– John Burnside
“John Harvey’s poetry is spacious, unhurried, measured, taking its time to unfurl its effect but keeping its hooks in the reader by careful control of pace and by making every word count.”
– Robin Thomas, The High Window
*He articulates gentle fury at the fragility of life, the knowledge that one way or the other every relationship ends in leave-taking: and yet there is a huge sense of what makes life shine.”
– Rosie Johnston, London Grip
Aslant
Shoestring Press, 2019
“Aslant places John Harvey’s poems alongside evocative photographs by Molly Boiling which provide sharp-edged images of steps, shadows, girders and corners of high buildings. These pictures often suggest entrances and exits or incidental glimpses alongside the telling of a story. Hence they combine well with Harvey’s poems which usually have a strong narrative and reminiscent thread.
“This is no ordinary book: the well-chosen images and the way they complement some consistently satisfying high-quality poems make it, in my view, well worth a tenner of anybody’s money.”
Thomas Owens London Grip
“John Harvey’s poetry is spacious, unhurried, measured, taking its time to unfurl its effect but keeping its hooks in the reader by careful control of pace and by making every word count.
The photos by Molly E. Boiling are abstract conceptions, many based on buildings seen from unusual angles and reflect the poet’s interest in abstract art. They certainly contribute to what is a very attractive book-object.”
Robin Thomas The High Window
Out of Silence
New & Selected Poems
smith | doorstop books, 2014
Ghosts of a Chance
Smith/Doorstop Books, 1992
“Many English writers try hard to create a genuinely transatlantic feel to their work. John Harvey is one of the very few who succeed, and the results are marvellous.”
Ian McMillan
John Harvey reads Oklahoma Territory with Second Nature
Bluer Than This
Smith/Doorstop Books, 1998
“Harvey is a fine poet. What is perhaps most striking in Bluer Than This is Harvey’s extraordinary empathy. His insights into the minds and hearts of others – there is a tenderness here that many British poets do not risk.”
John Burnside
Coolness and smoothness have always been the twin trademarks of John Harvey’s poetry, but I detect in these poems a tenderness and warnth that make the writing even more wothwhile. From the heart now, as well as the hip.”
Simon Armitage
John Harvey reads the poem, What Would You Say? with Second Nature, featuring Mel Thorpe on flute.
Pamphlets
Many English writers try hard to create a genuinely transatlantic feel to their work. John Harvey is one of the very few who succeed, and the results are marvellous.”
Ian McMillan
Provence, Priapus Poets, 1978
The Old Postcard Trick, Slow Dancer, 1984
Neil Sedaka Lied [with The Party’s Upstairs, Brendan Cleary] Smith | Doorstop, 1987
Taking the Long Road Home, Slow Dancer, 1988
The Downeast Poems [with Swimming the English Channel, Susan Bright], Smith | Doorstop, 1989
Sometime Other Than Now [with Sue Dymoke], Slow Dancer, 1989
Territory, Slow Dancer, 1992
Taking The Long Road Home, Slow Dancer, 1988
The Downeast Poems [with Swimming The English Channel, Susan Bright], Smith/Doorstop Books, 1989
Sometime Other Than Now [with Sue Dymoke], Slow Dancer, 1989
Territory, Slow Dancer, 1992
Collections
John Harvey’s poems appear in the following :
WPFW89.3FM Poetry Anthology, Edited by Grace Cavalieri, The Bunny & The Crododile Press, Washington DC, 1992
First Draft, Edited by John Bosley, Stephanie Bowgett, John Duffy & Philip Foster, Albert Poets, 1994
The Long Pale Corridor: Contemporary Poems of Bereavement, Edited by Judi Benson & Agneta Falk, Bloodaxe, 1996
Poems for the Beekeeper, Edited by Robert Gent, Five Leaves, 1996
Eating Your Cake … And Having It, Edited by Ann Gray, Fatchance Press, 1997
Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Anthology, 1989-1998, Edited by Roy Blackman & Michael Lasky, The Aldburgh Poetry Trust, 1999
Paging Doctor Jazz, Edited by John Lucas, Shoestring Press, 2004
Poetry: the Nottingham Collection, Edited by John Lucas, Five Leaves, 2005