Rotten Days in Late Summer

A TELEGRAPH AND IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 
 
LONGLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST COLLECTION 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN POLLARD FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE 
 
'Impressive . . . tender, unflinching' Guardian 
'This is poetry in the grand tradition of annihiliation by desire. It's what the young are always learning, and the old, if they are wise, never forget' Anne Boyer, author of The Undying 
'Brilliant . . . heralds the arrival of a frank and vital poetic voice' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti 
'Frank and alert . . . an important voice in British poetry' Eley Williams, author of The Liar's Dictionary 
'Direct and heart-breaking' Alex Dimitrov, author of Love and Other Poems 
'A rare thing . . . razor-sharp' Julia Copus, author of This Rare Spirit: A Life of Charlotte Mew 
 
In Rotten Days in Late Summer, Ralf Webb turns poetry to an examination of the textures of class, youth, adulthood and death in the working communities of the West Country, from mobile home parks, boyish factory workers and saleswomen kept on the road for days at a time, to the yearnings of young love and the complexities of masculinity. 
 
Alongside individual poems, three sequences predominate: a series of 'Love Stories', charting a course through the dreams, lies and salt-baked limbs of multiple relationships; 'Diagnostics', which tells the story of the death from cancer of the poet's father; and 'Treetops', a virtuosic long poem weaving together grief and mental health struggles in an attempt to come to terms with the overwhelming data of a life. 
 
The world of these poems is close, dangerous, lustrous and difficult: a world in which whole existences are lived in the spin of almost-inescapable fates. In searching for the light within it, this prodigious debut collection announces the arrival of a major new voice in British poetry.

It's a rare thing to come across a debut collection as cohesive and accomplished as Rotten Days in Late Summer. Whether writing on love, class, illness, the working life, death or the complex and multi-faceted nature of human desire, Ralf Webb is never less than razor-sharp. With a storyteller's flair, he evokes a world of shifting terrains in which 'anything could be an omen', and where refrains, motifs, stanza shapes and rhymes call to each other across the pages. In his extraordinary 'Treetops' sequence, Webb navigates the labyrinths of mental illness and the ambiguous prize of health . . . It all feels gloriously, anarchically new

This is close-range language, magnifying without prejudice both the beautiful and the hard. Ralf Webb's poetry tells the truth of the push-pull of liberation and obligation . . . To work, to care, to mourn, but also to be a poet and queer and . . . dream of a commune in France - this is poetry in the grand tradition of annihilation by desire. It's what the young are always learning, and the old, if they are wise, never forget

His poems take on grief and young manhood, and are largely set in England's West Country. 'Accept this cheap and ironclad cynicism,' Webb writes. 'We're not famous. I am completely in love.' The voice in this book is direct and heart-breaking. There's no pretension. It's all heart

Webb's collection concerns captivation and captivity, its dignities and its violences, with frank and alert complexity. Be it in remembered school corridors, the careening horizons of grief or longed-for resolutions within and without desire, he presents the strange within the recognisable and the recognisable within the strange. A careful-bold, important voice in British poetry

Ralf Webb is an ethnographer of the present. He is interested in everyday life in the extreme. What we find is that "There is a goodness here, somewhere, there is sense in struggle." Equal parts ode, litany, and menace, Rotten Days in Late Summer opens us up to the agon of the new century

Ralf Webb grew up in the West Country. He co-ran the Swimmers pamphlet and event series, and from 2017 to 2021 was managing editor of The White Review. Recently, he ran the Arts Council England-funded PoetryxClass reading group project. His writing has appeared widely, including in the London Review of Books, Poetry Review, PAIN, Prototype, Hotel, Oxford Poetry and Fantastic Man. This is his first collection.

In Rotten Days in Late Summer, Ralf Webb turns poetry to an examination of the textures of class, youth, adulthood and death in the working communities of the West Country, from mobile home parks, boyish factory workers and saleswomen kept on the road for days at a time, to the yearnings of young love and the complexities of masculinity. 
 
Alongside individual poems, three sequences predominate: a series of 'Love Stories', charting a course through the dreams, lies and salt-baked limbs of multiple relationships; 'Diagnostics', which tells the story of the death from cancer of the poet's father; and 'Treetops', a virtuosic long poem weaving together grief and mental health struggles in an attempt to come to terms with the overwhelming data of a life. 
 
The world of these poems is close, dangerous, lustrous and difficult: a world in which whole existences are lived in the spin of almost-inescapable fates. In searching for the light within it, this prodigious debut collection announces the arrival of a major new voice in British poetry.

Ralf Webb

Stunning … a masterful exploration of the past, the present, the political, and the pastoral in all its spectre

The poems of Highway Cottage embody the intangibility of return. In their midst, to revisit is always to witness anew and, if fortunate, to be renewed also

Highway Cottage portrays a landscape of irrepressible beauty and disquiet. It’s a collection attuned to the fields and their secrets, indebted to the rivers and the young swimmers who slip into them. Language blooms, unfurls, the imagery stains everything it touches. Rural life is ripe with tensions, and Webb situates himself at its fringes, guiding, prodding, asking

Ralf Webb is an ethnographer of the present. He is interested in everyday life in the extreme

Never less than razor-sharp. With a storyteller's flair, he evokes a world of shifting terrains … It all feels gloriously, anarchically new

An important voice in British poetry

This is close-range language, magnifying without prejudice both the beautiful and the hard

Highway Cottage weaves the story of a strange homecoming. A young poet travels to the heart of the English countryside – back to the West Country village where he grew up. Descending into the valley where the small riverside community still resides, he finds himself within a dreamlike landscape, peopled by uncanny figures: drone operators and hunters; half-familiar friends; local historians, and braying councillors trying desperately to oust a community of Travellers. Hovering between reality and folklore, the locale is at once idyllic and in decay; the visitor is both unsettled and soothed by it. Slowly, we start to sense that both villagers and poet might be under threat – not just from the future, but from the past.This book-length sequence of poems represents a ground-breaking artistic achievement by acclaimed poet Ralf Webb. Blending the eerie musicality of children’s rhymes with echoes of traditional balladry and free verse, the collection swells to an extraordinary chorus. With great clarity and affection, but not a trace of sentimentality, Webb conjures a precise vision of a rural community, surfacing the deep and urgent tensions – personal, political, and environmental – that run through Britain today. The result is a unique portrait of contemporary country life, enchanting and unnerving in equal measure.

Ralf Webb

Praise for Highway Cottage

Stunning … a masterful exploration of the past, the present, the political, and the pastoral in all its spectre

**The poems of Highway Cottage embody the intangibility of return. In their midst, to revisit is always to witness anew and, if fortunate, to be renewed also**

Highway Cottage portrays a landscape of irrepressible beauty and disquiet. It’s a collection attuned to the fields and their secrets, indebted to the rivers and the young swimmers who slip into them. Langu ...

Stunning … a masterful exploration of the past, the present, the political, and the pastoral in all its spectre

**The poems of Highway Cottage embody the intangibility of return. In their midst, to revisit is always to witness anew and, if fortunate, to be renewed also**

Highway Cottage portrays a landscape of irrepressible beauty and disquiet. It’s a collection attuned to the fields and their secrets, indebted to the rivers and the young swimmers who slip into them. Langu ...

Stunning … a masterful exploration of the past, the present, the political, and the pastoral in all its spectre

**The poems of Highway Cottage embody the intangibility of return. In their midst, to revisit is always to witness anew and, if fortunate, to be renewed also**

Highway Cottage portrays a landscape of irrepressible beauty and disquiet. It’s a collection attuned to the fields and their secrets, indebted to the rivers and the young swimmers who slip into them. Langu ...

Books by Ralf Webb

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