It is forty years since the death of Mervyn Peake (1911-68), the author of the much-loved "Gormenghast" novels. To mark the anniversary this first comprehensive edition of Peake's poetry is published. Of the more than 230 poems in the collection, over 80 are printed for the first time. Peake emerges[...]

'Nonsense', wrote Mervyn Peake, 'can take you by the hand and lead you nowhere. It's magic'. Peake (1911-68) is one of the great English nonsense poets, in the tradition of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. His verses lead the reader into places where cause is cut free of effect and language takes on a[...]