BENCHWARMERS IBD

Sinopsis

Benchwarmers, Nigel KentâÇÖs latest pamphlet, gives a voice to those who live their lives at the margins, such as the autistic boy, the looked-after child, the young offender, the anorexic, the painfully shy. They are lifeâÇÖs outsiders, whom circumstances have conspired against: they are the also-rans, the subs confined to the bench, waiting for the call that never comes. These poignant, compassionate poems make visible the invisible and invite the reader to make a connection.***'Nigel KentâÇÖs poems in this collection, skillfully sketch out the lives of the dispossessed, those who âÇÖ...lost lifeâÇÖs toss the moment they were born.âÇÖ His poetry vividly captures the feelings of loss and exclusion experienced by the disenfranchised child, and offers us a sobering insight into how our society fails many young people for so many reasons. In his prose poem, Cut, Nigel Kent sets the sharpest rebuke: portraying the brutalizing effects of ostracism in the psyche of young minds, âÇÖI leave my markáááácarve my initials in entitlementâÇÖs barkáááwith the blade they made.âÇÖA chilling yet haunting pamphlet of poems.'Josephine Lay, author of âÇÖA QuietusâÇÖ'ItâÇÖs a recognisable feature of Nigel KentâÇÖs earlier collections that many of his poems notice and care about people on the margins of society, and this is also central to Benchwarmers. Through these poems Kent allows us a glimpse not only of the constraints, misunderstandings and sometimes cruelty his subjects face but also, in some cases, of how through their own empowered actions, and/or the love and attention some receive, they can - as two of the poems suggests - either âÇÖspeed awayâÇÖ or find their âÇÖown way homeâÇÖ.'Phil Vernon,áAuthor of Poetry after Auschwitz Iáand Watching the Moon Landing 'Nigel Kent takes the reader on a powerful and poignant journey with each turn of the page. Benchwarmers is a superb poetry collection. Highly recommended.'Patricia M Osborne, Poet/Novelist 'Powerful and unflinching.áCompulsively readable. Defines class divides with sensitivity and dynamism.'Paul Brookes, poet, editor of The Wombwell Rainbow