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Crystal | Bloodaxe Books
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Ellen Cranitch

Crystal

Ellen Cranitch

Publication Date : 25 Apr 2024

ISBN: 9781780376974

Pages: 65
Size :216 x 138mm
Rights: World

Crystal traces the arc of one woman’s experience after the discovery that her partner is addicted to crystal meth. In a highly original poetic act of reclamation, it plunders the drug itself and makes of it an overarching conceit to articulate the devastating impact of living with a loved one who is utterly changed. Deeply felt, tirelessly inventive, this collection gives voice to addiction’s explosive effect within a family. At the same time it speaks universally and with urgency of the power of poetry to take one through the darkest of times.

Crystal is Ellen Cranitch's second collection, following The Immortalist (Templar Press), which was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Prize for Best Collection 2018.

'What impresses most about Ellen Cranitch's courageous second collection, Crystal, on the subject of her husband's addition to crystal meth and its devastations, is her steady rigour in not compromising, not ranting or taking flight [...] There is, throughout, a – crystal – clarity.' – Kate Kellaway, The Observer (Poetry Book of the Month)

‘Ellen Cranitch's new book, Crystal, is one in which personal dissolution, and chaos, are – at least to some extent – counteracted by fleeting, often occluded, moments of calm, and at times through the act of poetry itself […] Cranitch proves herself an adept formalist, and some of the writing here is beautifully rendered, well- seen and rich in clinching details’ –Declan Ryan, The Irish Times

'Crystal is certainly the most gripping collection of poetry I have ever read (runner-up: Adam Foulds’ The Broken Word). But individual poems will break your heart, and your admiration for the determination to turn all this into art will never diminish.' – Nick Hornby, on his substack A Fan's Notes

‘Utterly mesmerising. An intensely rewarding and spine-tingling experience. What pain underlies it is mitigated by so much love, rescue, hope and triumph. Only a real poet can take one from a walk with Cavafy amongst the stones of the Acropolis to the misery of Heston motorway services; from Colombian emerald mines to communing with T.S. Eliot’s ashes in East Coker… Cranitch takes the resources of landscape, science, philosophy, mythology and of course poetry and uses them not just to meditate on the cruel, sordid, terrifying and humiliating truths of addiction, but to do something more than meditate – to understand, to resolve and to transform. This is what poetry at its best and truest can do. A wonderful achievement.’ – Stephen Fry

‘Tender and profound…honest and brave…propelled by a faith in the humane, in the redemptive possibilities of love… Crystal…adds to that library that attests to the human spirit’s ability to witness and endure and, sometimes at least, come out singing.’ – Hisham Matar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return

 

Ellen Cranitch on Arji's Poetry Pickle Jar podcast

Ellen joined host Arji Manuelpillai to discuss a poem she loves. Ellen picked JH Prynne's 'Against Hurt' as her choice for this episode, released in August 2024.

 

Ireland & EU: Click here to order from Books Upstairs in Dublin

USA: Click here to order from Indiebound or Bookshop.org

  

Related News & Publicity

News & Publicity


Ellen Cranitch's Crystal reviewed in The Observer and Irish Times

Ellen Cranitch's Crystal reviewed in The Observer and Irish Times

Crystal reviewed in The Observer, The Irish Times & on Nick Hornby's blog; podcast interview with Ellen Cranitch & interview on RTE Radio 1's Poetry People.

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Poetry Events


Launch reading by Ellen Cranitch, Helen Farish and Brenda Shaughnessy

Launch reading by Ellen Cranitch, Helen Farish and Brenda Shaughnessy

Ellen Cranitch, Helen Farish & Brenda Shaughnessy launched their April 2024 poetry books with a reading on our YouTube channel. Available to watch now.

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