Stepping on the Cracks is Amanda White's first collection. It exhumes the private, psychological and social landscape of the patterns we experience and inherit. White's subjects — glimpsed, lived with and imagined — oscillate between a desire for form and meaning and a compulsion to escape from that world. The two are bound together by a fear that it might all come to nought — landing somewhere between the apple never falling far from the tree and fine words buttering no parsnips.
Amanda White's second book, Appearing Soon, is also published by Flambard.
'A must-have book for the '99 bookshelf. Thanks to Amanda White for speeding the beat of my heart; there's not a flat line in this stunning first collection. She has tossed the whole familiar subject roundabout into orbit; its re-entry as the new house of mirrors is amazing. ... This poet possesses the triple "S": scope, skill, style.'
Abi Hughes-Edwards, Poetry Editor, The New Writer
'Keenly observed, full of vitality, Amanda White's poetry is wry, tender, dark and strange; the product of a vivid and wide-ranging imagination.'
Mary Loudon, Author and Times critic
'Amanda White's début collection is a dramatic showcase of life-as-we-know-it, backlit with a fantastical imagination and a generous humanity. She displays poise and wit, with a sly eye for detail.'
Janet Fisher, The Poetry Business and Smith/Doorstop Books
'These are poems that know where they are going.' Donald Measham
If, like me, you're looking for poetry that challenges poetic form, understands the continuum from poetry to prose and the subtle dynamics of human relationships, is both accessible and intelligent, laced with a mordant black humour and scores 10 out of 10 in the hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck test; buy this book.
Patience Agbabi, Mslexia
This first collection makes the blood flow fast. It is meaty, muscular with imaginative scope, a good sense of humour and touches of tenderness ...
These poems are sure-footed but can give a feeling of a liberating anarchy ... She's here to stay.
Mo Watson, Other Poetry
The poems sparkle with invention. Every one offers examples of exciting language and each one yields more on rereading ... There isn't a dull poem in this confident, memorable first collection.
Frances Nagle, Envoi 124
Stepping on the Cracks costs £6.95 and was published in 1999.
ISBN: 978-1-873226-35-3
Photo: Andrew Gillman
Amanda White was born in London in 1965. She studied English, Philosophy and Film Studies at the College of St Mark and St John, Plymouth, and subsequently Creative Writing and Film Studies at Goldsmiths' College, London. Married with three children, she now lives in West Penwith in Cornwall and works in publishing.
She was a featured writer in Virago's The Nerve: The 1998 Book of Writing Women and her first collection, Stepping on the Cracks, was published by Flambard in 1999. As well as poetry she writes children's books — Rip and Rap (2002) and Sand Sister (2004), both from Barefoot Books — and contributes to travel guides.
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