Edward Clarke lives in Oxford. His last collection of poems, Cherubims, was published by Kelsay Books at the end of 2022. Previous collections of his poetry include The Voice inside Our Home (SLG Press, 2022) and A Book of Psalms (Paraclete Press, 2020). His documentary, ‘Clarke’s Psalter,’ was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018. He is also the author of three books of criticism, The Later Affluence of W. B. Yeats and Wallace Stevens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry (Iff Books, 2014), and The Secret Mind of Art (Angelico Press, 2023).
Cherubims
“The poems in Cherubims explore the complex labyrinth of childhood – and parenting – in ways that are unflinchingly candid, delightfully entertaining, and unmistakably wise. The collection offers readers a sustained and thoughtful musing on life, one that gives voice to puzzlement alongside praise, to worries as well as wonder.” – Mark S. Burrows
The Voice inside Our Home
This selection of poetry draws on the author’s developing relationship with the Psalms over a number of years, and on the inspiration of the birth and early years of his two sons, culminating in a set of eulogies or sonnets in prayer.
A Book of Psalms
This collection of poems engages in new and animating ways with one of the profoundest texts of our past, the Book of Psalms. These poems are Clarke’s response to his experience of reading the Psalter through once every month according to Cranmer’s divisions in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.
The Secret Mind of Art
The Secret Mind of Art invites the reader into the mysteries of Western art. Its twelve chapters accompany readers on a transformative journey through some of the most significant works of the European tradition.
The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry
This book delineates different manifestations of the vagabond spirit of poetry through the ages. In doing so, it makes claims for the efficacy of poetry in our industrialized world, where we are presented with environmental, political and economic challenges.
The Later Affluence of W. B. Yeats and Wallace Stevens
Surveying the later work of W.B. Yeats and Wallace Stevens, Edward Clarke unfolds their very last poems and considers the two poets’ relations with western literature and tradition. This book shows how these two latecomers transform the ways in which we read earlier poets.
Edward Clarke 