John Ash's poems are an attempt to forge a system of communication between himself, the "I," the subjective muddle, and an external reality apprehended only in fragments--tantalizing, brilliant, rewarding--though giving evidence all the time of a pattern somewhere which might or might not make sense. As he says in "Salon Pieces," "Yes, the world is simple/and very far from our lives." The poet as he writes seems never to look inward--Ash himself as personality remains something of an enigma--but always outward with detachment, intelligence, and an infinitely shareable sense of humor.

He was born in Manchester to John Edward and Sheila Ash and read English at Birmingham University where he earned a B.A. He taught for a year in Cyprus (1970-1971) and traveled for a while in the Middle East before returning in 1971 to Manchester, where he has lived ever since.

John Ash claims that he...