'Invisible Sun' (Smokestack, 2021)

Invisible Sun is a collection that follows Viktor Shklovsky's instruction to make everyday objects seem 'unfamiliar': a marbled egg, boxes, balloons, a Greek island—these things are not quite what they seem. There is an overriding sense of misplacement, or misdirection, in many of the poems, which leads ultimately to a feeling of transformation. The image of the sun—the source of all life, but also a destroyer—pops up continually in this collection, which deals with spiritual awareness in nature, the passage of time and the final stages of life. 

'As with Skinner's other collections, turning these pages is an adventure. He displays the ability to push to the parameters of the recognisable, to make emotional depth out of the fragmented. Breathtaking.' Roy Marshall

'Absolutely meticulous in their craft and powerfully moving in their effect. Wow.' Lisa Kelly

'These poems are heartbreaking and eerie and beautiful.' Dan O'Brien

Coming February 2021