Edgelands

This book is a delight: witty and wryly contrarian – Robert MacFarlane * Guardian *A masterpiece of its kind… Even more uplifting is the chapter on weather - truly one of the most extraordinary passages of prose I have read in some time… This is, quite simply, beautiful, but it is also typical of a beautifully conceived work of exploration, by two emissaries to the wilderness who do the wasteland proud – John Burnside * The Times *Marvellously quirky, fascinatingly detailed and beautifully written * Daily Telegraph *The edgelands, where the veneer of civilisation peels away, are the most despised and ignored of landscapes. Ambition turns to dust in the sewage farm and landfill site. But Farley and Roberts’s mischievous and elegant forays into these marginal wastes, show that dust turns back to life in them - into riotous ecologies, agitprop architecture and the wonderful business of playing. A provocative, left-field read – Richard MabeyHaunting, often inspiring book…Edgelands covers an impressive range of politics, reminiscence, investigation and rumination * Scotland on Sunday *Edgelands delights with its sly, impish wit and observation * Spectator *Eye-opening and hugely enjoyable book … overall this is an original, surprising and rather wonderful addition to our literature of place * Sunday Telegraph *A book that begs us to use our imaginations; to appreciate what we pass by every day but never really see * Metro *This is a delightful and important book. By focusing on the fringes, on the shabby reality of suburban life, these poets remind us that there are always new myths for old, that the ‘edgelands’ may even be our true centre – John Greening * Country Life *With chapters on paths, dens, wastelands, business parks and many other topics, this book has opened my eyes to all kinds of things I might not have noticed before – Wendy Cope * Daily Telegraph *

Michael Symmons Roberts

Michael Symmons Roberts was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1963. He has published eight collections of poetry and received a number of accolades including the Forward Prize, the Costa Poetry Award and the Whitbread Poetry Prize. His Selected Poems was published in 2016. As a librettist, his work has been performed in concert halls and opera houses around the world, and he is an award-winning broadcaster and dramatist. He is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, his Quartet for the End of Time- On Music, Grief and Birdsong was published in 2025.

Paul Farley

Paul Farley is the author of four collections of poetry and has won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Whitbread Poetry Award and the E.M. Forster Award. He broadcasts regularly on radio and presents The Echo Chamber on Radio 4. Edgelands, co-written with Michael Symmons Roberts, received the Royal Society of Literature’s Jerwood Award and the 2011 Foyles Best Book of Ideas Award and was serialised as Radio 4 Book of the Week.

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