On Violence in the Work of J.H. Prynne

Book excerpt: Hailed as a crucial study of J.H. Prynne’s poetry, Violence in the Work of J.H. Prynne provides an accessible and comprehensive analysis of one of the world’s leading figures of contemporary poetry. This indispensable resource analyses the nexus between Prynne’s evolving political thought and his linguistic innovation over a period of three decades. Never hesitant before the difficulty of Prynne’s poetry, Hall provides an acute and skilfully articulated argument which illuminates the complexity of Prynne’s most challenging volumes. In reinventing the methodologies by which contemporary poetry can be read, Hall synthesizes earlier critical work, providing a crucial pathway into Prynne’s work—full of new insights, new inventions, and new critical understandings.