Paul Farley, FRSL (born 1965) is a British poet, writer and broadcaster. His fourth collection The Dark Film, was a Poetry Book Society Choice in 2012. In 2009 he received the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters.

Paul Farley, FRSL (born 1965) is a British poet, writer and broadcaster. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2012.

The Dark Film finds Farley pursuing many of his staple themes – childhood, history, technology, landscapes and . Occasionally The Dark Film indulges in the sort of tired laments for objects past that Farley's earlier poems, delivered with more inspired flair, avoided

The Dark Film finds Farley pursuing many of his staple themes – childhood, history, technology, landscapes and, of course, the cinema of the title poem's "unrated dark" – in a looser, more supple style. Yet with it comes a more cautious tone. Occasionally The Dark Film indulges in the sort of tired laments for objects past that Farley's earlier poems, delivered with more inspired flair, avoided. But this hardly detracts from a captivating book that sees this energetic poet putting his livewire imagination to ever more ambitious use, all in an adaptable style that – like the elemental force of "In the Wind" – "stills us, or slows us down to thought".

Seeing things – in every sense – is Paul Farley's subject

Seeing things – in every sense – is Paul Farley's subject. Even darkness becomes visible if you stay with it, as the title poem testifies. A film of "Unrated dark, two hours long" develops character through small flaws: . pair of tracks cut by a bad/ projector somewhere on the road/ from Soho leaves them mesmerised. Farley's poetry starts with – and stops at – nothing. The beguiling "Quality Street" is a child's-eye view through a rainbow of sweet papers, individually held up to the light: "The wrapper of a strawberry cream/ unpeels a vivid.

Farley’s great poetic gift is his ability to switch between the local and the universal, the present and the historical past, with the most apparently effortless of gear changes; he brings to our immediate attention things previously hidden – whether out of sight, in the periphery of our vision, or right under our noses.

Farley's great poetic gift is his ability to switch between the local and the universal, the present and the historical past, with the most apparently effortless of gear changes; he brings to our immediate attention things previously hidden - whether out of sight, in the periphery of our vision, or right under our noses.

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Books online: The Dark Film, 2012, Fishpond. One of our leading contemporary poets, Paul Farley is also an essayist, critic, dramatist and documentary maker. He is the author of three poetry collections, The Boy From The Chemist Is Here to See You, Ice Age, and most recently Tramp in Flames. Among his many literary awards are a Forward Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Poetry Prize and the . Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Select Format: Hardcover. ISBN13: 9781447212553.