The Collective Nouns For Birds (Poetry Anthology) by Amanda Huggins

The Collective Nouns For Birds (Poetry Anthology) by Amanda Huggins.

Published 28th February 2020 by Maytree Press.

Read April 2020.

The Collective Nouns For Birds is a poetry collection filled with glimpses of teenage dreams, lost loves, chance encounters and what-might-have-beens; a nostalgic journey through life’s quiet and pivotal moments.

Frequently taking inspiration from the natural world, this collection of memories is often imbued with a melancholy longing or the search for reparation, yet also resonates with beauty and hope.

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I loved every single thing about this beautiful collection from Amanda Huggins - including the lovely cover illustration, The Charm, by Alice Parker.

So many of these poems spoke to me, made me smile, and frequently made me cry - especially those harking back to memories of parents, and animals. They are evocative, tender, and nostalgic - recalling many of those moments from life that stay with you for ever.

My particular favourite (although I loved them all!) is Not Quite You, a touching tribute to a beloved cat who is no longer here, which reminded me so much of the passing of our own aged cats - catching glimpses of them from the corner of your eye and hearing their footsteps on the hall floor, even many years after they have gone. I am not ashamed to say that I sobbed.

The Collective Nouns For Birds has just won the Sabouteur Award for Poetry 2020, which has pleased me enormously since I voted for it, and it is a most worthy winner. I cannot recommend this collection highly enough and am really looking forward to reading more of Amanda's work.

If you like you poetry tender and beautifully observed, then this is the collection for you - I might also add that, if you think poetry is not for you, then this would also be a grand place to start.

The Collective Nouns For Birds is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer!

Many thanks to Amanda Huggins, who was kind enough to send me a copy of this wonderful collection.

About the author:

Amanda's work has been published in anthologies, travel guides, text books, and literary magazines, as well as in The Guardian, The Telegraph, Reader's Digest, Take a Break’s Fiction Feast, Mslexia, Traveller Magazine, Wanderlust, Popshot, and Writers' Forum.

She was a runner-up in the 2018 Costa Short Story Award and her travel writing has won several awards, including the British Guild of Travel Writers New Travel Writer Award in 2014.

A selection of her short fiction is showcased in the InkTears anthology, Death of a Superhero, and her first collection of flash fiction, Brightly Coloured Horses, was published by Chapeltown Books in February 2018.

She was the first author to be signed up by Retreat West Books, and her full length short story collection, Separated From the Sea, was launched on June 2nd 2018 and received a Special Mention at the 2019 Saboteur Awards. Her poetry collection, The Collective Nouns for Birds, was published in February 2020 by Maytree Press. Her second story collection, Scratched Enamel Heart, will be published by RWB in Spring 2020.