Breeze Block by Jake Hawkey
“Breeze Block is a striking collection, asking its reader to engage with its electrifying juxtapositions of a multitude of realities. Here, a line break, stanza break, not once, but on many occasions sends a shiver down your spine—each line being of such staggering beauty. Hawkey has devoted himself to erudition and sophistication, drawing his inspiration from the likes of Rembrandt, Rothko and Jesus’s donkey. There is definitely a sense of an ending that lingers throughout—from hospital wards to a number of romances to a dead goldfish—yet this is a journey that the reader will never wish to end. As much as Breeze Block is rooted in urban realities, taking us on many London roads and landscapes, evoking a sense of growing up in ‘a city where you cannot leave but you cannot stay’; it is a testimony on how we grapple with grief in these times bereft of hope.” - Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal, author of The Yak Dilemma
“Breeze Block is a striking collection, asking its reader to engage with its electrifying juxtapositions of a multitude of realities. Here, a line break, stanza break, not once, but on many occasions sends a shiver down your spine—each line being of such staggering beauty. Hawkey has devoted himself to erudition and sophistication, drawing his inspiration from the likes of Rembrandt, Rothko and Jesus’s donkey. There is definitely a sense of an ending that lingers throughout—from hospital wards to a number of romances to a dead goldfish—yet this is a journey that the reader will never wish to end. As much as Breeze Block is rooted in urban realities, taking us on many London roads and landscapes, evoking a sense of growing up in ‘a city where you cannot leave but you cannot stay’; it is a testimony on how we grapple with grief in these times bereft of hope.” - Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal, author of The Yak Dilemma
“Breeze Block is a striking collection, asking its reader to engage with its electrifying juxtapositions of a multitude of realities. Here, a line break, stanza break, not once, but on many occasions sends a shiver down your spine—each line being of such staggering beauty. Hawkey has devoted himself to erudition and sophistication, drawing his inspiration from the likes of Rembrandt, Rothko and Jesus’s donkey. There is definitely a sense of an ending that lingers throughout—from hospital wards to a number of romances to a dead goldfish—yet this is a journey that the reader will never wish to end. As much as Breeze Block is rooted in urban realities, taking us on many London roads and landscapes, evoking a sense of growing up in ‘a city where you cannot leave but you cannot stay’; it is a testimony on how we grapple with grief in these times bereft of hope.” - Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal, author of The Yak Dilemma
About the Author
Jake Hawkey was born in Greenwich, London in 1990, studied Fine Art at the University of Westminster and MA Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University Belfast. He was selected for Poetry Ireland Introductions in 2020 and is currently a poetry PhD candidate at Queen’s.
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Praise for Breeze Block
“I read these poems by Jake Hawkey with excitement and gratitude. Here is a wonderful new voice, full of a spiky energy accompanied by a wild imagination. His language bristles with a sense of its own freshness. His working-class world is alive and quivering. A brilliant collection.”
- Jay Parini, author of New and Collected Poems: 1975-2015
Publisher: Lumpen/ The Class Work Project
Date Published: November 2020
Paperback, 45 pgs.
ISBN: 9781914125027
