{"product_id":"from-our-own-fire","title":"From Our Own Fire","description":"\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for Scotland's National Book Awards (Poetry Book of the Year) 2024\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eObserver \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis\n prose and poetry tour de force of storytelling has the narrative punch \nof a novel. It is a new departure for the poet, and for poetry itself. \nIt takes the reader into the not-too-distant future: an artificial \nintelligence rules the world, and a working-class family use their wits \nto live off the land. William Letford blends prose and his inimitable \npoetry: sci-fi and hunter-gatherer are merged into a coherent story in \nthe pages of a stonemason's journal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'You won't see the best of a\n Macallum until you put something in their fist,' says Letford, \nintroducing the family. 'Joiner, nurse, stonemason, hairdresser, \nplumber, gardener. Lorna even repairs vintage watches. That's the \nquantum mechanics of manual labour.' We join the Macallum family as they\n combine their skills to reconnect with the land in a world where the \nempowered are hell-bent on creating a new utopia. Joe, the stonemason, \nrecords in his journal the struggles and successes of a carnival of \ncharacters. They hurl grace and humour at a future that is being shaped \nby a single, powerful entity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLetford's storytelling is gritty \nand beautiful. 'A Macallum, it seems to me now, is made to move, to \nthink on the run. The sofas in our houses were sinkholes. The actors on a\n fifty-two-inch flat screen – shadows on a cave wall.'","brand":"Carcanet Press Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47129383928152,"sku":"9781800173439","price":19.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781800173439_beb18688-1ecd-4c9c-9f05-deacdc710225.jpg?v=1777126530","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/from-our-own-fire","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}