Beautiful Monsters

A new collection in celebration of all things crazy, worn out, glorious… From Rory Gallagher’s road-ravaged Strat to a rhinoceros in Martial’s Colosseum. Little monsters like Rimbaud; big beasts like Baudelaire. A whiff of honeysuckle. Signs in a supermarket. A book left on a poet’s grave. An elephant. A dancing bear…

Beautiful Monsters is Stuart Henson’s seventh book from Shoestring Press, who published The Way You Know It, his New & Selected Poems, in 2018.

‘…an impressive talent… Stuart Henson has a memorable and commanding voice.’ – Merryn Williams, London Grip

‘Part of the pleasure of reading these short poems is that they have taken me back to Henson’s earlier work, to reconnect with why I have always liked his poems. When you have read Feast of Fools I recommend his other titles: he’s worth it.’ – D.A. Prince

‘Stuart Henson’s fourth collection [The Odin Stone] is clever, witty and thoroughly enjoyable. He displays a wide range of craftsmanship and subject-matter that constantly surprises and challenges… do find out for yourself how good it is.’ – Malcolm Carson, Other Poetry

‘Henson’s work makes literary expectations of its readers, but is never simply showy; form echoes meaning, and the contemporary world and its concerns are vividly present…’ – Stephanie Norgate, Poetry Review