Summer books of 2019: Poetry

Surge, by Jay Bernard, Chatto & Windus, RRP£10

Bernard won the 2018 Ted Hughes award for new work for a one-hour solo performance in London based on the New Cross Fire of 1981. Here; they build a path between New Cross and the 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower, in sensitive but devastating verse.

Deaf Republic, by Ilya Kaminsky, Faber, RRP£10.99

Shortlisted for the Forward Prize, Deaf Republic imagines deafness as a collective form of resistance against a military regime. The Odessa-born, US-based Kaminsky is hard of hearing himself, and his characters — in many ways the book reads like a play — use hand signs that both bypass their oppressors and add rhythm to the poetry. It’s an astounding, urgent and fresh creation.

Truth Street, by David Cain, Smokestack, RRP£7.99

Truth Street is an unusual accomplishment: Cain takes witness testimonies from the inquest into the Hillsborough disaster and weaves them into first-person poems, which read together build a heartbreaking account of that day. Out of terrible injustice and sadness comes a beautiful tribute to the victims, whose names and ages form the respectful, final work in the collection.

For a look at the best summer books across genres, go to ft.com/summerbooks2019

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