Polly Clark's retrospective Afterlife - interviews & reviews
A long-awaited retrospective from Scottish poet Polly Clark was published by Bloodaxe Books on 26 February 2026. It brings together new work with poems from her three Bloodaxe collections. Afterlife: New & Selected Poems was launched online at Bloodaxe's reading and discussion event on 24 February - scroll down for details.
Her first collection, Kiss, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Her second, Take Me with You, a Poetry Book Society Choice, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Her third collection Farewell My Lovely, published by Bloodaxe in 2009, was followed by her pamphlet, A Handbook for the Afterlife (Templar Poetry, 2015), which was shortlisted in the 2016 Michael Marks Awards. Afterlife: New & Selected Poems includes work from all these collections as well as new poems.
This retrospective of her poetry opens with a magical new collection – also called Afterlife – in which there are no physical limits, nothing is stable and the world is distilled to its elements. The traumatic experience of rape transforms a girl into a tiger, and a tiger into a girl; a whale embraces both air and water until forced to inhabit only one by jealous fish. The poems grapple with the inexplicable nature of some experience, suggesting that we are most real in that mysterious space between living and dying.
As well as a poet, Polly Clark is an award-winning novelist. Her debut novel, Larchfield (Quercus, 2017), fictionalised a little-known period in the life of W.H. Auden. It won the Mslexia Prize, as well as critical plaudits from Margaret Atwood, Louis de Bernières and Richard Ford. It was featured in the BBC television documentary Stop All The Clocks, about W.H. Auden’s life. Her second novel, Tiger (Quercus, 2019), was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year. Her third, Ocean, was published by Lightning in 2025, with the paperback edition forthcoming from Lightning in May 2026.
Polly Clark was born in Canada and brought up in Scotland. She received an Eric Gregory Award for her poetry in 1997. She now divides her time between the west of Scotland and a houseboat in London.
ONLINE CONVERSATION BETWEEN POLLY CLARK AND NIALL CAMPBELL
Poetry London, Online Exclusive Conversation, online 15 May 2026
An in-depth online exclusive conversation between Polly Clark and Niall Campbell went online on Poetry London’s website on 15 May 2026. The two poets discussed many aspects of their work, including their views on the differences between writing poetry and writing novels. Niall Campbell is the editor of Poetry London and has three poetry collections published by Bloodaxe, the most recent being The Island in the Sound (2024).
https://poetrylondon.co.uk/on-creative-life-and-afterlife/
REVIEW IN THE SUNDAY TIMES
The Sunday Times, Sunday 10 May 2026
Lily Blacksell’s first full-length collection Life Immediately and Polly Clark's retrospective Afterlife: New & Selected Poems were both well reviewed by Graeme Richardson in his round-up of best new poetry in The Sunday Times of 10 May. The feature ran in print under the heading: ‘The four ages of poetry Graeme Richardson picks new collections from writers in their thirties, forties, fifties and seventies’
‘Polly Clark … has metamorphosis as her stock-in-trade. Throughout this collection animals change places with humanity, living and dead. […] there’s plenty to enjoy in these varied, wise transformations.’ – Graeme Richardson, The Sunday Times (The Best New Poetry) on Afterlife: New & Selected Poems
In print in The Sunday Times’s Culture supplement on 10 May 2026.
‘The best new poetry – by writers of every age’: available online by subscription here.
ONLINE REVIEW COVERAGE
The Lake, May 2026
An excellent review of Polly Clark’s retrospective Afterlife: New & Selected Poems featured in the May 2026 edition of The Lake.
‘There is a muscular strength to these poems, which invite re-reading and reflection. Of course, any review says perhaps as much about its author as its subject, so I urge you to buy your own copy and find your favourites, for this life as much as in what is to come.’ – Hannah Stone, The Lake, on Afterlife: New & Selected Poems
https://www.thelakepoetry.co.uk/reviews/may26/
INTERVIEW WITH POLLY CLARK
The Madrid Review, Issue 7, Friday 27 February 2026
A two-page interview with Scottish poet Polly Clark features in the print edition of Issue 7 of The Madrid Review. The piece is accompanied by author and cover photographs and by ‘The Woman Zoo’, one of the new poems from Polly’s retrospective Afterlife: New & Selected Poems.
‘The poet Polly Clark chats with us about Afterlife: New & Selected Poems (2026) and shares a poem. Born in Canada and now based in the UK, Clark’s acclaimed work, from the T. S. Eliot Prize–shortlisted Take Me With You to novels like Larchfield and Tiger, blends sharp insight with emotional depth.’
https://themadridreview.com/f/issue-7-is-out-on-friday
ONLINE LAUNCH EVENT
Tuesday 24 February 2026, 7pm
Bloodaxe's online launch event for new February 2026 titles by Polly Clark, Cathy Galvin and Penelope Shuttle is now on YouTube. All three poets were celebrating the publication of their new books by reading live and discussing their work with each other and with the host, Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley.
This free Bloodaxe launch event was streamed on YouTube Live and can now be found on this YouTube page: https://youtube.com/live/XA38CZZs9yE
Brilliant readings and discussion from all three poets. Polly Clark read first in each set.
[17 February 2026]
