‘This is a personal landscape of Teesside and North Yorkshire. It is my response to my native landscape.’

So writes the author in his introduction who, through his poems and the artworks selected to accompany them, reflects on a lifetime permeated by a sense of place.

As with so many places that once fueled the powerhouse of Britain’s industrial past, both the land and the people of Teesside must look to the future in order to renew their identity from among the decay of the recent past. But a vital part of this regeneration can only be achieved by also looking back.

In this lies the essence of John Powls’ poetry in North Sea to the East.

Each poem evokes a sense of both longing and belonging that transcends mere personal nostalgia – inspiring among the poet’s contemporaries a fellowship of memories; while for those generations following he writes so that they might better understand their past in shaping the landscapes of the future.

As the poet has it: ‘so their memories might know too’.

The book is beautifully illustrated with over 100 images of work by nationally and internationally renowned painters, printmakers and photographers of Teesside and North Yorkshire landscapes and seascapes which helped inspire John’s poems.

Teesside born, John Powls is a long established writer with a broad ambit encompassing journalism, drama and contributions to other artists’ books. But, above all, he is a landscape and seascape poet with a considerable body of published and exhibited work who has long and frequent experience of performing this, including on television, radio and the internet.

His poetry is influenced by the Romantic tradition and has been inspired his native North East of England and Dartmoor with interesting diversions to London, Japanese gardens in England, the worlds of visual art and music – and Route 66!

In developing his particular heritage of language, John aims to innovate in realising his themes on the page – including with design – and in performance. He is fascinated by the interplay of anticipation, memory and experience. John collaborates with artists, printmakers, landscape photographers, videographers, musicians and other poets in multimedia projects, often establishing working relationships that have spanned many years.

For more on John’s writing career and current projects go to his website: promiselandpoetry.co.uk

Imprint: Halstar. ISBN 978 1 906690 73 1, hardback, 258x238mm, 144 pages. Published December 2020.