Medlars by Geraldine Clarkson

A rottenness at the heart of things, mapped onto England—the Midlands, London and other cities—manifests via apocalyptic omens and curses, and things being upside-down; an underworld and stasis. The Medlar, Mespilus germanica, the aromatic and romantic medieval fruit, member of the apple and quince family, is considered inedible until ‘bletted’, i.e. left to go rotten and sweet. The collection touches on themes of xenophobia, Brexit and hypocrisy, and dallies in the English hedgerows, lanes and forests, sometimes with the English poets, seeking out the regenerative chaos and mischief present in nature. There is a fugitive hope of flow and change, breaking out of old patterns; a quest for sweetness.

Shearsman