Family Lines

A companion for life, this anthology is filled with unforgettable poems by, for and about parents.

Poems about parents and parenthood have been written throughout history, exploring the relationships that remain eternally familiar yet endlessly unfathomable. Family Lines traces this rich tradition, presenting diverse perspectives on subjects including pregnancy and arrivals, loss and letting go, mothers and fathers, ageing and farewells.

Simon Armitage and Rachel Bower’s marvellous selection stretches from antiquity to the present day, bringing together adored classics and extraordinary contemporary poems. See how life is transformed following childbirth according to William Blake, Sylvia Plath and Liz Berry. Christina Rossetti, Philip Larkin, Mary Jean Chan and Selima Hill offer differing perspectives on mothers. There are powerful father-and-son encounters from Homer as well as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Li-Young Lee and Roger Robinson. Tony Harrison, Anne Carson and Fawzia Muradali Kane are among those wishing farewells.

Whether measured in ‘sweet-wild weeks’ or ‘obstinate, exhausted mornings’, through ‘sharpest pangs’ or ‘each minuscule miracle’ – this anthology illuminates what connects us across generations.