Carol Rumens

The loneliness of the critic is not always based on intellectual arrogance. It might originate from unbiased integrity

The Palestinian-American poet takes us straight to the aftermath of a blast, and a little girl’s joy at being rescued from the rubble before devastating loss hits

A reporter on the Aberfan disaster reflects on his uneasy duty to write dispassionately about a devastating tragedy

De la Mare’s Georgian romanticism often rings hollow in my ears, but this poem’s originality and hard edge spear through the poets’ mist

A daughter remembers her father through his dogged work to learn the Welsh language, and his leaving of it

The Northern Irish poet recounts his young son Micah’s audiological investigation and introduces us to another son who is also a poet

The ghost of a black African woman whose body was abusively exhibited for white Europeans directs her own gaze to a different ideal of beauty

Reflecting outward from minimal geometry, the poet renders large events at a granular scale

A minor tumble in the street gives a small indication of the larger risks a couple face and the consolations of mutual support

An émigré player’s artistry sings through a London street, rising over many barriers