The Baghdad Zoo

Our 25th Poem of the Week is Brian Turner's 'The Baghdad Zoo' (click here for the full text), from his multi award winning collection Here, Bullet, which has just arrived in the Library. It is about the notorious day in 2003 when, following the American invasion of Iraq, the zoo was ransacked and animals ran loose into the city.

Here, Bullet, Turner's outstanding debut collection, is the first strong poetic voice in English to come from the Iraq conflict. He was recently interviewed in a Guardian podcast with Lindesay Irvine here, and on RTE's 'The Arts Show' by Vincent Woods here. Both interviews are well-worth attention. There's a review of the book by H.R.Coursen in the Wolf Moon Press here.

Yesterday Brian Turner took a poetry masterclass at the 23rd Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway.