The Midday Muse

Matthew Mead's third collection of verse follows "Identities" (1967) and "The Administration of Things" (1970). In his own words, his is 'a quiet voice for quiet rooms' - but the voice is distinct and compels attention. As Richard Holmes wrote of his last book in "The Times", 'Genuine social vision is still exceptional in English poetry. Matthew Mead...is engaged, willful, critically aware of inhumane surroundings, but without the remotest hint of pop poetry and deeply conscious of the literary effort he has inherited...He is a good poet, knows the problems, deserves to be read'.