<p>‘The question of Paterson’s own history is addressed in Ben Wilkinson’s monograph <em>Don Paterson</em>, the first full-length study of the poet. It reads Paterson’s work from the first book, <em>Nil Nil</em>, to 2009’s <em>Rain</em>, with a “Coda” to consider the two most recent collections. Sometimes Wilkinson’s Paterson is a depersonalized, “modernist” Paterson; sometimes very much a poet of the inescapable self; occasionally, a poet of some ironic relation between these poles. It is to the book’s advantage when it doesn’t seek a grand narrative, the better to focus on the workings of the poems in detail; this it does exquisitely.’ Sam Quill, <em>Times Literary Supplement</em></p>
Prologue1. For the Hell of It: Nil Nil (1993)2. Which Man I Am: God's Gift to Women (1997)3. Not Your Name, Not Mine: The Eyes (1999)4. Shrewd Obliquity of Speech: Landing Light (2003)5. Breath, You Invisible Poem: Orpheus (2006)6. None of This Matters: Rain (2009)Coda: 40 Sonnets (2015) and Zonal (2020)