James Brookes

Biography
James Brookes studied at the University of Warwick and has been Senior Student Editor, then a Contributing Editor of The Warwick Review. His poetry has appeared in various places, including Matchbox Poetry Review, Caltrop Magazine, the online magazine Gists and Piths and on a church pew in Taunton, Somerset.

THE ENGLISH SWEATS (PIGHOG PRESS, 2009)

 * Dr Fulminare's Queftionable Arts -- It's quite clear that Brookes can and does get the balance right, all the time retaining that important sense of gravitas and erudition. But there must be such a thing as too much allusion and I'm not quite convinced of Brookes' need to resort to it at all when he's so good at making plain words sing.
 * Hand+Star -- There is a strictness too, strongly evoking the poetry of Geoffrey Hill, as well as a playfulness more reminiscent of Paul Muldoon at his riddling best.
 * Sentinel Literary Quarterly -- The shivers are plentiful throughout the compilation, where every word has worked for its place.
 * Ellipsis -- Violence is endemic in The English Sweats, in the subject matter and in the way that the poems themselves take a strong grip on the mouth and carry it through the brief moments where Brookes’ learning seeks to override his rhythmic sense.
 * Eyewear -- Throughout, the surety of the foundations of Brookes’ work guarantees there are no clanging mis-steps, no moments when a reader will feel the scenery wobble, even if there are times, particularly after only one or two readings, where one might feel in danger of getting lost among the syntactical thickets.