Discoveries

The poems in Discoveries, written over the last four years, respond to the uncertainties of our time with an unpredictability of their own. Tim Dooley makes use of varied, sometimes arbitrary, structures to explore possibilities of expression. Some poems extemporise along lines of linguistic fantasy or celebrate innovators of modernism, while others observe contemporary experience with acuity. A sobering central section, structured in 100-word prose paragraphs, revisits a source of shame at the heart of our history.

Dooley deals with whatever comes – news, memories, encounters, dreams: nothing is out of bounds. — PHILIP GROSS Poetry Review

Among the handful of writers today trying to work towards a serious, intelligent poetry of the people —PETER SANSOM Orbis

Dooley shows how, in a quiet, contained register it’s possible to be trenchantly political. — KATY EVANS BUSH Baroque in Hackney

A unifying factor is Dooley’s consistently humane vision and concern for the disaffected and inarticulate. —DAVID WHEATLEY TLS

A poetry of thoughtful, unshowy resonance, that can also be very funny. — ALAN JENKINS and EVA SALZMAN PBS Bulletin

Tim Dooley is a rare example of a poet who has improved with age. – RORY WATERMAN TLS