Jeremy Reed was born in Jersey in the Channel Islands. His prolific literary output since his first poetry collection Target (Andium Press, 1974) has been matched by an equally titanic reputation as the most imaginatively gifted British poet of his generation. His many admirers include Seamus Heaney, David Lodge and JG Ballard.

The collection Bleecker Street (Carcanet, 1980) sealed Reed’s burgeoning distinction as a truly original voice, and Eric Gregory and Somerset Maugham Awards followed suit. His Selected Poems were published by Penguin in 1987. Reed is also the author of legion pop biographies, poetry translations and novels, his most recent being The Grid (Peter Owen Ltd, 2008).

Following the success of the dystopian collection West End Survival Kit, a poem from which, ‘Blake’, was given a special commendation in the 2009 Forward Prize, Waterloo Press is proud to present for the first time this fugitive Reed volume, which collects together poems previously unpublished from a crucial time in Reed’s formative development as the highly imaginative poet we know today.