The Other Side of Glass by Gail Ashton

Gail Ashton has always had the ability to conjure whole lives in a few lines. In her second collection, The Other Side of Glass, those conjuring abilities are joined by a new confidence and maturity as a poet to dazzling effect.

“Precise, writerly, packed with description and wit, Gail Ashton’s poems in this collection are assured and rich. Beautifully spaced, both on the page and in the mind, she insists on an engagement with words, whether a ice-skald riddle or a ditty on the em dash. Her ventures into prose poetry are exciting and intriguing and her command of the single line is admirable: ‘Look to the stones’ she advises us at the end of one poem, while the almost throwaway ‘dreams of polishing him off, daily.’ is chilling. ‘Almost’ is crucial – there is no need for Ashton to ‘throw away’ her lines and it would be a shame if she did. I look forward to future work in this new assured voice. “

Judy Kendall

Gail Ashton is a freelance writer and editor of poetry, short stories, and academic and popular works. Her publications include six non-fiction books on poetry with a biography of Geoffrey Chaucer. She has co-edited two poetry anthologies and edits a major literature series for Continuum. She reviews for a range of publications. Gail has taught English and Drama in schools, lectured in English at the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester and for many years co-ordinated and wrote for a local Youth Theatre. She currently runs creative writing workshops and performs her work around the country. Gail has a PhD in medieval literature.