Palgrave Advances in John Clare Studies - by Simon Kӧ & vesi & Erin Lafford (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This collection gathers together an exciting new series of critical essays on the Romantic- and Victorian-period poet John Clare, which each take a rigorous approach to both persistent and emergent themes in his life and work. Designed to mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Clare's first volume of poetry, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, the scholarship collected here both affirms Clare's importance as a major nineteenth-century poet and reveals how his verse continually provokes fresh areas of enquiry. Offering new archival, theoretical, and sometimes corrective insights into Clare's world and work, the essays in this volume cover a multitude of topics, including Clare's immersion in song and print culture, his formal ingenuity, his environmental and ecological imagination, his mental and physical health, and his experience of asylums. This book gives students a range of imaginative avenues into Clare's work, and offers both new readers and experienced Clare scholars a vital set of contributions to ongoing critical debates.

From the Back Cover

This collection gathers together an exciting new series of critical essays on theRomantic- and Victorian-period poet John Clare, which each take a rigorousapproach to both persistent and emergent themes in his life and work. Designedto mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Clare's first volume of poetry, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, the scholarship collected here bothaffirms Clare's importance as a major nineteenth-century poet and reveals howhis verse continually provokes fresh areas of enquiry. Offering new archival, theoretical, and sometimes corrective insights into Clare's world and work, theessays in this volume cover a multitude of topics, including Clare's immersion insong and print culture, his formal ingenuity, his environmental and ecologicalimagination, his mental and physical health, and his experience of asylums. Thisbook gives students a range of imaginative avenues into Clare's work, and offersboth new readers and experienced Clare scholars a vital set of contributions toongoing critical debates.

About the Author

Simon Kövesi is Professor of English Literature at Oxford Brookes University, UK, editor of the John Clare Society Journal, and author of John Clare: Nature, Criticism and History (2017).

Erin Lafford is a postdoctoral research fellow in English at the University of Derby, UK. She is currently completing her first book, John Clare and the Poetry of Illness.