Patricia M Osborne

Congratulations to fellow Hedgehog poet, Nigel Kent, on this gorgeous pamphlet Sent published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press.

Sent

(The Hedgehog Poetry Press 2025)

Nigel Kent’s pamphlet of epistolary poems, begins with a work that ironically marks the end of the letter form. Yet as the remainder of the collection makes clear, with the advent of alternative means of messaging, opportunities today for using the written word to communicate to others have proliferated. Pieces such as his text from a jilted lover, his DM to a headliner poet from a disillusioned fan, and his naming card to Lyra redefine the nature of epistolary poems into something vibrant and contemporary, making the reader laugh and cry. Sometimes at the same time!

“The final poem in this collection begins with a quote from Adrian Mitchell: ‘Most people ignore poetry because most poetry ignores people.’ Nigel Kent’s collection of epistolary poems is the opposite of this – it gives voice and a spotlight to the kind of people we all identify with – the secretary who can’t tell her boss what she really thinks of his behaviour, the lover with ‘grief clinging to her chest’, and the ‘bedsit boys’ for whom a better life seems out of reach. The huge themes of our time are also here: the loss of Truth, the abuse of our planet, refugees whose lives are ‘traded for votes’. And running through all of these poems is a deep appreciation of language, its wayward propensity to develop whether we like it or not, a wry and humorous mourning of what has been lost. This is Kent’s love letter to the written word, and any reader who shares that love will find much to enjoy here.” Karen Macfarlane, poet and author of ‘All about the Surface’

Order your signed limited edition copy HERE