Searched For Text

Burt Dan

"Searched for Text" is a first chapbook collection of poems by a poet alive to the challenges of traditional form, finding ways of expressing themes that are intensely real and many-layered in time, culture and society. His elegies, poems of love and landscape, are uneasily sharp and political. He allows no sentimentality to blur the deep sentiment of his experiences: the American childhood and youth, his growing love of England and his finding places in which to be, always a little uneasily, at home. In "Un Coup de Des" he says: Chance authors all we do, The plot's contrived in retrospect. Spied once I still look out for you; Chance authors all we do. A sea bird shot, a woman met Ungloving who then strolls from viewAlters to fate as we reflect. Chance authors all we do. The plot's contrived in retrospect.

About the Author

Dan Burt was born in South Philadelphia in 1942. He attended state schools and a local Catholic college before reading English at St John's College, Cambridge. After graduating from Yale Law School he practised law in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Britain before moving to London in 1994 and becoming a British citizen. He is an Honorary Fellow of St John's College and lives and writes in London and Cambridge. His poetry publications include the pamphlets "Searched For Text" (2008) and "Certain Windows" (2011), and "Cold Eye", a collaboration with the artist Paul Hodgson (2010), all published by Carcanet Press in the Lintott Press imprint. His poetry was included in "Carcanet's New Poetries V" anthology and has been published in periodicals including the "TLS", "Poetry Review", "The New Statesman", "Financial Times" and "PN Review".

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