The Pomegranates of Kandahar

The Pomegranates of Kandahar

Summary

Sarah Maguire's rich and lyrical poems have been highly praised for the ease with which they ground precise, sensual detail within the wider context of world events. In this remarkable new collection, her poems travel greater distances than ever before.

The title poem laments the devastation visited upon Afghanistan following decades of war. Other poems consider the casualties of political unrest: would-be migrants in Tangiers gazing northwards at the longed-for phantasmagoria of 'Europe'; and packs of wolves on the loose in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. But there are intimate poems too, often using scientific vocabularies to offset a personal moment, as in 'Landscape, with Dead Sea' where the erosion of the poet's skin is connected to geological transformations at the earth's core.

Reviews

  • She offers precise glimpses of the English countryside, with cool observations of war-torn landscapes and political unrest
    Independent, Christmas books special

About the author

Sarah Maguire

Born in west London, where she lived all her life, Sarah Maguire left school early to train as a gardener. The author of four highly praised poetry collections, she was the editor of Flora Poetica: The Chatto Book of Botanical Verse. The first writer to be sent to Palestine and Yemen by the British Council, she was the founder and director of the Poetry Translation Centre, an organisation that aims to enhance English poetry by engaging with the rich poetic traditions of the UK’s recent immigrant communities. Sarah Maguire died in 2017.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more