Dwell Time by Taylor Strickland

Description

Dwell Time, the full-length debut collection from award-winning poet Taylor Strickland, begins from the idea that ‘dwelling’ requires both place and the experience of ‘being-in-the-world’. In taking us from the US to Scotland to Portugal, Strickland interrogates this central notion, along with ideas of non-place and environment, to explore our contemporary experience of love, language, technology, and spirituality. Ultimately these are poems that advocate for a world against isolation, one in which we go beyond our own witness to embrace another’s, and shrink the distance between us.

Taylor Strickland is a poet and translator from the US. His book Dastram/Delirium was 2023 Scottish Poetry Book of the Year and a PBS Translation Choice. His work has featured in Poetry London, the TLS, New Statesman, and more. His poetry has been The Scotsman Poem of the Week, shortlisted for several prizes, and translated into Irish and Italian. ‘The Low Road’ was adapted by American composer, Andrew Kohn, and performed in Orkney. Nine Whales, Tiree, a film-poem made with filmmaker Olivia Booker and composer Fee Blumenthaler, was selected for Bloomsday and Glasgow Cathedral festivals, among others. He lives in Glasgow, with his wife, Lauren, and daughter, Eimhir.

Playful, poignant and full of the spirit of place. Taylor Strickland’s poetry brings together influences from both sides of the Atlantic to make a singular blend. One of the most exciting poets working in Scotland today. – Cal Flyn

Taylor Strickland’s ‘Dwell Time’ is ardent and disarming. This is a deeply personal collection that is amazingly intellectually alive. The themes of heritage and transience, shared by many people today, speak to the heart, with the delicacy of almost-silences and birdsong. Yet I almost laughed aloud in admiration and delight at the sheer craft of Strickland’s tough, roiling music. You’ll not only follow these poems, but experience them. They transport the reader into the sensuous instants of a weave of experience, from the Neolithic to the contemporary.
– Anthony Vahni Capildeo

Join Taylor Strickland and fellow Tapsalteerie poet Stewart Sanderson as they read from their new collections on Friday November 14th at the Fruitmarket, Market Street, Edinburgh. Free tickets on the Fruitmarket website.