Where Earwigs Dare

With celebratory verses on vegetables and vagueness; insects and alcohol; kippers, quantum physics and recycling, Matt Harvey’s keenly awaited second collection exuberantly reaffirms his status as someone who’s really good at this sort of thing.

Horticultural, whimsical, ecological, political and just plain funny, Where Earwigs Dare contains a rich biodiversity of verse – some recycled from Matt’s appearances on Radio 4’s Saturday Live and his stint writing Desktop Poetry for The Guardian, others that bubbled doggedly up of their own accord from a grim sense of joie de vivre.

There’s enough stuff about potatoes and leeks, about clouds, sheds and slugs to qualify as a Green Book – and enough about kippers and cows, pain relief, petty theft and public nudity to qualify as a typical Harvey offering.

There is also an introduction to Empath Man – contemporary superhero who fights crime through his advanced listening skills and ability to stay open and vulnerable in a tight situation.