Division Street

Helen Mort is among the brightest stars in the sparkling new constellation of young British poets

Outstanding… There's a confidence and wit that's rare in a first book, but underlying it all is the bedrock of the north of England, its landscapes and stories. These are poems of passion, risk, tenderness and power

There’s been a buzz around Helen Mort for a while, and her debut, Division Street, doesn’t disappoint - Independent

An excellent first poetry collection -- lucid, intelligent, politically aware, and loyal to the landscape that inspired it. - Guardian Picks of the Year

Mort is a fast-rising star of British poetry… marked by a gritty urban lyricism and a terrific rhythmic vitality - i

A poet of exceptional talent, with a strong clear voice, a sure sense of metre and a poetic sensibility which has an unshakeable attachment to the real world. - Herald

Although Helen Mort is just 28, it's surprising that Division Street is her first full collection -- so frequently and impressively does her work appear in magazines and competitions... It's a brilliant debut. - Independent

A first class first full-length collection - Tribune

Gritty, witty, stylish and totally memorable. Division Street is a book which has something important to say, addressing a wide range of topics with novelty and intelligence. - John Glenday

The beauty of her debut collection is partly the sense that it has been written against the clock. Every poem is on the move... the style is satisfyingly Orwellian -- no long words where a shorter one would serve. Nor is she a poetic detective assisting with mysteries. She knows when to let be and let go. - Observer

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE T.S. ELIOT PRIZE 2013*

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA POETRY AWARD 2013*

The much-anticipated debut collection from award-winning poet and rising star, Helen Mort

A bold, fresh new voice for Chatto poetry, expect big things to come from this award-winning young poet, already acknowledged as one of the most promising poets of her generation

Prize winning potential: at the tender age of 27, Helen Mort has already won the Foyles Young Poet Award five times between 1997 and 2004, and last year judged the prize with Christopher Reid, won a Gregory Award in 2007, the Manchester Young Writer prize in 2008. With any luck, Division Street should scoop a first collection prize this year.

A strong voice from the North: her poems are intimately connected with the landscape of South Yorkshire, where she grew up, and the stand-out sequence 'Scab' is about the Miners' Strike in Orgreave, 1984 (which is also the inspiration for the jacket)

A poet so good she is already being plagiarised: in January a poetry competition winner was exposed as plagiarising, almost word-for-word, Helen's poem, 'Deer'.