Both Sides of the Wood adds a substantial collection of new work to a comprehensive selection from Feeman’s earlier volumes, representing a life in poetry stretching over six decades. Style and subject matter vary and develop, but neither the natural world nor the world of art is ever far away, and throughout, human relationships, especially with family and friends, are handled with insight, warmth, humour and subtlety. These always approachable poems invite the reader into a companionable world of vividly realised perceptions,  thoughtful and wide-ranging reflections, sorrow and joy.  While hard realities are acknowledged, taken  as a whole the poems offer a healing sense of what the title of a recent book of essays on Freeman’s work refers to as ‘the radiant ordinary’. And what accumulates is a record of  consciousness held steadily enough to accommodate both the glacier that flattened a valley and the last yellow leaf on a pruned branch. A relaxed speaking voice is played against a subtle but unfailing musicality.  
 
ABOUT John Freeman:
John Freeman’s poetry has appeared in many magazines and anthologies and a dozen collections. He has written articles and reviews on modern poetry and on Shelley. For many years he taught English Literature and Creative Writing at Cardiff University. Born in Essex, he grew up in south London and spent three years in Yorkshire before settling in Wales. He lives in the Vale of Glamorgan.