Böcker av Cai Draper

Cai Draper's sing & hide is a tribute to youth, family and the nuances of belonging. While its speaker places us firmly in the distinct and polyphonic context of his coming of age (Woolworths, Megadrive, 'Spoons, Moschino, Peckham Pulse, the Rivoli), he himself is often caught between lines and homes, between pride and shame. Draper's bold, idiosyncratic voice betrays a deep yearning for knowledge of the self and others, drawing the reader in with magnetic effect. Influenced by modern sculpture, there is an architectural quality to these poems, cast into bronze or moulded from London turf, skilfully wielding negative space to draw attention to the unseen and unspoken.

Cai Draper's SPRUNG is an energetic and invigorating joyride through a few months in lockdown, 'a tortoise wrapped in blank verse' where Draper boldly admits 'I want to take MDMA with my mum / & listen to Everything But the Girl '. As fresh as a change of shirt, as bright as a newly polished button, this is poetry completely committed to Frank O'Hara's command to 'go on its nerve'. SPRUNG is an admirably animated pamphlet from an exciting young poet.