I can think of no better way to end this year of drop ins and reviews than by sharing with you my response to Paul Waring’s exceptional, Muckle Anima (Hybriddreich, 2022). I have had the privilege of reviewing a number of wonderful collections this year, but this is equal to the very best and I have been bursting at the seams to write about it!

I believe that ‘anima’ means in layman’s terms ‘the inner or true self’. Whilst some say that all poetry, and indeed art, regardless of the subject matter is ultimately an expression of the artist, I believe that this choice of title reminds us of this viewpoint and signals to the reader that we can expect insights into the world and experiences that has made the man behind the writing. Adding the vernacular ‘muckle’, meaning ‘much’, to the formal noun ‘anima’, indicates, perhaps, that the…