Tumble

She gripped lightly with her knees, as she'd been taught. She didn't want wings. She wanted to fly on the thunder of hooves, feel muscles surging beneath her. The word in her head, matching stride - free-ee-dom, free-ee-dom, free-ee-dom - as she bent low over the withers, pressing her cheek against the finial's neck, her own hair a mane, streaming wild in the wind. - From the poem 'Silks' In tumble, Joanna Preston's bold and original voice swoops the reader from the ocean depths to the roof of the world, from nascent saints, Viking raids and fallen angels to talking cameras and an astronaut in space. This beautifully crafted collection traverses the lyric, free verse and traditional forms. It's earthy and embodied, while at the same time woven through with myth and magical realism. Always, the human heartbeat is at stake, as Preston explores love, loss, longing and lust - how we stumble, how we soar. There is a spell-binding quality to these poems which makes Joanna Preston's much anticipated second collection a wonderfully memorable and evocative read. - Majella Cullinane tumble twists and turns with an airy intensity; one poem shadows another to create the depth of field that gives this collection heft. Preston's invigorating precision lets her deliver the new and, more importantly, the true. - David Howard