Filmpoem: 'The Pencil Sharpener' by Sarah Wimbush (2021)

'The Pencil Sharpener' is from 'The Last Dinosaur in Doncaster' (Smith|Doorstop, 2021), a winner of the 2020 International Book & Pamphlet Competition judged by Imtiaz Dharker & Ian McMillan

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'The Last Dinosaur in Doncaster' is an exuberant journey down the ginnels of Yorkshire; from The Miners’ Strike and its ramifications, to men who should have been astronauts and no-nonsense women who get stuff done. These poems celebrate the importance of belonging, in all its gritty splendour.

You can read an extract from the pamphlet and buy it here:
https://poetrybusiness.co.uk/product/...

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"The Last Dinosaur in Doncaster is a vivid love poem to the changing landscape of South Yorkshire and its residents. The poet suggests the teeming life of the place with language that rolls along on its own lively music and images that sing. ‘I could catch this language … place it in their palm to hold like a squab and watch it swell …’ Here, an astronaut’s ‘small step’ spins out to become an affectionate portrait of a father, and the simple act of sharpening a pencil becomes a thing of beauty." – Imtiaz Dharker

"I felt drawn to these poems partly because I know the area the poet is writing about; places like Highfields, Brodsworth Hall, Bentley. I guess this meant that I could sniff out any linguistic and cultural wrong notes but there were none. The writing felt local and universal like much good writing does and the phrasing captured the power and majesty of the way the people of that part of Doncaster speak. It felt like the poet was saying new things about old subjects like The Miners’ Strike and growing up, and there was a powerful anger in the poems that didn’t overwhelm them but fuelled their articulacy." – Ian McMillan

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The Last Dinosaur in Doncaster
Pamphlet | eBook
£6 | £4.50
978-1-912196-43-2 | Feb 2021