Crossing Fee

Bamforth Iain

In "The Crossing Fee" Iain Bamforth re-stages the odyssey of the legendary German hero who falls into a lake in the Black Forest and emerges in the China Sea. Circulating between Europe, the Philippines and Indonesia (where Bamforth worked for five years as a health consultant), the poems sound the "plummet and allure" of life on both worlds. Grounded in myth and also in close observation, "The Crossing Fee" records a momentous exploration of space and history: "For the tides are always bringing / news of something strange".

About the Author

Iain Bamforth grew up in Glasgow and graduated from its medical school. He has pursued a peripatetic career as a hospital doctor, general practitioner, translator, lecturer in comparative literature, and latterly public health consultant in several developing countries, principally in Asia. His four books of poetry were joined by a fifth, "The Crossing Fee", in 2013.

His prose includes "The Body in the Library" (Verso, 2003), an account of modern medicine as told through literature; and "The Good European" (Carcanet, 2006), a collection of writings on ideas and literature in European history. He is currently working on a collection of aphoristic, fantastic and philosophical stories about medicine conjointly with a book of impressions of Wallacea – the biogeographical name for the various archipelagos between Asia and Australia. Several of his wide-ranging essays and reviews can be read on his website.

Reviews

"[Bamforth's] work is rich in perceptual acquaintance,making it not only intelligent but also extremely sensual. To read him makes the patterns of our minds richer..." – David Morley, Guardian

"This collection is a joy to read, full of so much nuance, and persuasive language, a permanent wistfulness that never strays into the twee and the constant sense of travel, of movement and growth" – Matt Macdonald, Scottish Review of Books

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