Thom Gunn by Michael Nott review – sex, drugs and San Francisco
A sensitive account of the poet’s wild life on the West Coast
Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life by Michael Nott review – the poet laureate of Haight-Ashbury
The San Francisco poet’s work is richly illuminated by this detailed account of his early traumas, dread of ‘deep emotion’ and addiction to casual sex
Poem of the week: Moor by Kathleen Jamie
Haunted by a softly luminous mistiness, the moor combines, as if by double exposure, the passing of time and the full-lit present moment
Poem of the week: Highland Daunder by Jeda Pearl
A Scottish Jamaican takes defiant ownership of her homeland and ‘th braken brainches wi’in you’
Martha Whittome obituary
Other lives: Teacher and arts administrator who played an important part in the early days of the TS Eliot prize
Poem of the week: Whilst the Ox and Ass by Paul Muldoon
The biblical story of two animals granted the power of speech for their reverence to the holy child becomes an angry reflection on those denied that power
Sandy Brownjohn obituary
Other lives: Poet and educator whose books transformed the teaching of poetry-writing in schools
Goodlord by Ella Frears review – this email to a landlord is dark and dazzling
The poet’s stream-of-consciousness complaint to an estate agent is a witty and compelling reflection on the state of the housing market and young womanhood
Greek poet who inspired Forster, Hockney and Jackie Onassis emerges from the shadows
The writer Constantine Cavafy was largely unpublished in his lifetime, but was revered by artists. His archive and Alexandrian home are now on show for the first time
The best recent poetry – review roundup
Fierce Elegy by Peter Gizzi; Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo; Bark, Archive, Splinter by Jay Gao; Polkadot Wounds by Anthony Vahni Capildeo; Goodlord by Ella Frears; Skeletons by Deborah Landau
Why Are You Shouting? by James Womack review – tales of the metropolis
This rich fourth collection by James Womack ponders the fraught relationship between place and dweller – and our craving for connection
Ismail Kadare obituary
One of Albania’s greatest writers who explored the ugliness and dignity of this ancient and long-oppressed nation
Poem of the week: Marbled Orb Weaver by Matt Howard
A spider’s hard web-building work is destroyed by the poet’s scythe
Maggie Nelson: ‘I was overwhelmed with grief when Prince died’
The American author of The Argonauts on her latest collection of essays, how the Purple Rain star shaped her sexual development and the risks she takes in her writing
Gerald Dawe obituary
Belfast-born poet, academic and essayist whose work explored the everyday with wit and straightforward syntax