Being a fellow member of the Poetry Society of the Open University, I have known the work of long-standing member, Julie Anne Gilligan, for some time. Therefore I am delighted to have the opportunity to review her new pamphlet, Time Matters(Dempsey and Windle, 2022). It displays all those qualities that I have come to know and love and that make her such an impressive writer: her cleverness and wit; her wonderful feeling for language; her wry perspective on experience and her ability to turn her hand to any poetic form!

As the title suggests Time Matters sees Gilligan reflecting on the significance of ‘time’ in our lives and how it affects us all. Take for example, A Pinch of Seasoning which explores the cycle of the seasons, whilst also characterising that unique time in our lives, childhood. Gilligan’s descriptive talents come to the fore here. Each season…