Books in the Dryad Press Living Poets series

The poems are disruptive, even disturbing. The collection engages with taboos and myths surrounding self-harm, consequent journeys to unfamiliar, sometimes foreign spaces, and aspects of spiritual awareness and loss.

"Allegories of the Everyday illuminates new ground: even as death looms, Brian Walter is more lucid, richly rhythmical, wide-ranging, compassionate and (in his own phrase) "relentlessly aware" than ever." - Dan Wylie Brian Walter holds a doctorate from Rhodes University and taught literature at the University of Fort Hare for 19 years. He later worked in educational and community development projects in the Eastern Cape and currently mentors the Helenvale Poets and is an active member of the Ecca Poets group. Walter has published several collections of poetry, including Baakens (Lovedale Press, 2000) and Otherwise and Other Poems (Echoing Green Press, 2014). His debut collection, Tracks (Lovedale Press, 1999), was the recipient of the 2000 Ingrid Jonker Prize. He was also awarded the 1999 Thomas Pringle Award for poetry published in journals. His other books include Groundwork: An Introduction to Reading and Writing about Poetry (Macmillan, 1997).

The poems in this collection bear witness with the crisp attention of a Robert Capa photograph. These ecosystems, each with their own by-laws ... hold together such a curious, nearly impossible balance in his new book. - David Keplinger, author of Another City (Milkweed Editions, 2018)