Talk of the Town

In Talk of the Town, award-winning poet Jonathan Edwards delivers his most ambitious collection yet. Rooted in the South Wales valleys, these poems celebrate ordinary lives and the everyday, told with the characteristic wit and surrealism for which he is known. Tender glimpses into the lives of the poet’s working-class grandparents, sit alongside poems which present family as a flashmob dance sequence and an Olympic bobsleigh team. In the title poem, bridges, nightclubs and hospitals share their thoughts on the goings on in their town. Meanwhile, pop-culture icons – Kurt Cobain, Richey Edwards and even Shakin’ Stevens – stroll past, offering their glamour and greatness, their yearnings and tragedies.

Moving, musical, funny and energised by the language of the streets, these poems are love letters to the places and times which made them; to the everyday wonder of South Wales and the open-armed characters who step from these pages, offering their unforgettable lives.