Climbable

Paul Hullahs poems are unlike any others today. They are not only very good but very direct and moving. And they possess a shapeliness and clarity that other poets today might envy. Their beauty is as enigmatic as it is straightforward. JOHN BAYLEY Fine poems, some with an enchantment that touches me deeply. IRIS MURDOCH Why isnt Paul Hullahs verse better known? He often deals with poignantly transient erotic relationships, within a European tradition that goes back to the troubadours. He does so with modesty and wry humour... His rhythms suggest on one hand rock lyrics, on the other the virtuoso technical versatility of Romantic and post-Romantic nineteenth century writers. But his conversational personality is very much his own. I think that only a very stuffy or bigoted proponent of some other kind of poetry could resist that candid, rueful, singing personality. ANGUS CALDER [Hullah] seems softer than he once did. Maybe even fragile He now exercises that honesty in his poems, but with considerable skill, and surprising tenderness. SHIRLEY MANSON