A Telegraph Book of the Year 2024
A Financial Times Poetry Book of the Year 2024

Caroline Bird's new poems show us the ambush of real life that occurs in the stillness after the happy ending. This is a collection about marriage, lesbian parenthood, addiction and recovery in which a recurring dream is playing out: a world where mums impale themselves on pogo-sticks, serial killers rattle around in basements, baby monitors are haunted by someone else's baby and, through it all, love stays and stays like a stationary rollercoaster that turns out to be the scariest, most thrilling ride in the amusement park.

Her editor welcomed the book in these terms: 'It is bleak, repellent and hilarious in an American Psycho-ish way. Hectic and vivid.'

'Vegetable crisps.
The words yawn like a black hole,
sucking my eyes backwards
into my head until I see
my own brain glowing
like a radioactive cauliflower.'

'These poems are skillfully written. They are full of conceits, taken to logical and comic lengths until they reveal the absurdities in everyday life. Whether talking about children, love or death, the way Bird takes words literally and to extremes triggers the laughter muscle. Yet, like all good comedy writing, the poems possess grains of truth that make the reader reflect on the human experience. A great collection, and a most enjoyable read.'
Rennie Halstead, London Grip

'Caroline Bird's latest work, Ambush At Still Lake, evokes the nostalgic charm of classic Hollywood cinema, weaving together elements of cartoons, westerns, and black-and-white movies. However, beneath its cinematic veneer lies a deep emotional resonance, illuminating the transformative power of love. Through its masterful storytelling, Bird deftly illustrates how a singular moment can serve as a poignant testament to the enduring capacity for renewal within the human heart.'
Roger Robinson

'A clever, funny and moving reflection on life's dramatic turns and their aftermath.'
Maria Crawford, Financial Times

'Bird's great skill as a storyteller is in action…These poems are full of fantastic­ally vivid images.'
Lenni Sanders, TLS

Caroline Bird has seven previous volumes published by Carcanet. Her sixth collection, The Air Year, won the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2020 and was shortlisted for the Polari Prize and the Costa Prize. Her fifth collection, In These Days of Prohibition, was shortlisted for the 2017 TS Eliot Prize and the Ted Hughes Award. A two-time winner of the Foyles Young Poets Award, her first collection Looking Through Letterboxes was published in 2002 when she was 15. She won an Eric Gregory Award in 2002 and was shortlisted for the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize in 2001 and the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2008 and 2010. She was one of the five official poets at the 2012 London Olympics.In 2023, she won a Cholmondeley Award. Her Selected Poems, Rookie, was published in 2022.