Dammed fine poems, full of emotional resonance and vivid imagery; the world made fresh to the eye and ear.

Beautifully written poems from a unique voice of integrity and spirit.

An unholy hybrid of John Cooper Clarke and Mark E Smith.

Poems that dance with originality and are tenderly unafraid of love and belonging.

In time travelling poems of love, loss and grief, Oliver James Lomax distills moments of his childhood into beautiful, almost cinematic vignettes, coming of age through the looking glass, he explores the relationship he has with the memory of his grandparents, his precise eye capturing moments in time, anchored in a northern landscape where the most humble of happenings seem to take on a universal consciousness. Join him as he orders a Humphrey Bogart Breakfast, is mugged for a Hank Williams record and his Nan develops an almost mythical status in this astonishing first full collection from the Bolton poet.

"A fantastically punchy debut by Bolton poet Oliver James Lomax. Expressed with a deft musicality of language, and with lines that wouldn't look out of place nestled inside the sleeve of a Leonard Cohen or Nick Cave album, an exciting introduction to a poet who is making huge strides in the literary scene."

"Tidy boy, tidy poems, spend your filthy lucre on this book."

"I really enjoyed working with you on the Songlines project. You were totally committed to the group’s development and really took care of their needs both individually and collectively. As you know they were a mixed group of people at different stages of their creative writing journeys and I felt you brilliantly tailored the sessions to meet everyone’s needs. All of the older emerging poets involved have nothing but praise for the project and your leadership of it. Everyone felt empowered and gained confidence to find their poetic voices and the quality of the poetry they produced was impressive. Thank you so much, I hope we can work together again."

"Oliver made poetry real for us by writing an astonishing poem about Peterloo. We’ve kept tabs on him ever since. Believe us, he’s worth keeping an eye on."

"Oliver’s unique perspective and voice is nothing short of inspiring for both adults and young people alike. Through his work with our school, we have seen first-hand how he takes his own experiences as working class lad and makes universal themes accessible and relevant to young people who might otherwise have believed that poetry couldn’t speak for them."

"Oliver Lomax isn't pretending. He means it, man!"

“I asked the participants what the most memorable and inspiring part of the workshop was- and the answer was unanimously ‘Oliver’, followed by a suitably poetic cacophony of praise that made him blush. Most practitioners who work with young people believe that working with older people will be easier but believe me it is not, it takes real charm and proficiency of practice to make that connection and support individuals to create something they are proud of. I am so pleased that we commissioned Oliver to lead this project and I’m sure we will work with him again.”

"Please tell your students and your poet that they have reduced me to a sobbing mess (in a good way!). That is so beautiful it hurts. A really wonderful film, a moving poem and such heart,"

"As a new Manchester film school we wanted a way to reflect how authentic and unique Manchester is. Oliver took that simple idea to another level with his passionate and meaningful words, connecting with the spirit and sensibility of this great city. We were blown away by his work”