A Third Colour: ‘lyrical, political, and thought-provoking. An intriguing mixture of fresh and contemporary imagery and themes... of the traditional and the new’ (Message in a Bottle); ‘As Bernard O’Donoghue says in his introduction, these poems are ‘about the things that matter in life, love and hurt and justice’ – definitely poems for a frightening century’ (London Grip).
O’Donoghue also says: ‘remarkable poems... they belong in an English tradition of visionary parable-makers... the book finds its perfect art-images in the restrained, fractured illustrations of Alix Emery... These are poems of the first importance....’
Hurt Under Your Arm: ‘The voice of modern man, using the most decisive modern idiom… a barely containable rage against all the pains of life, the pains of truth, deceit, age, fear, blazes through every part of this book. A frightening book: it makes huge demands on our courage, imagination and compassion. It is necessary to commend it’ (Iota); ‘He has a blunt, original voice… hard-hitting… poems laced with rather traditional stylistic touches’ (New Hope International); ‘chewy’ (Ore).
In the Savage Gap: ‘Readers may find much in this publication to disturb… Dunnett has no pretensions towards being a cosy or reassuring writer… observation distilled with his own particular gift for language’ (Foreword); ‘the poems are original, bold, with imaginative insights and romantic but effective phrasing’ (Pennine Platform); ‘impressive work’ (Weyfarers); ‘Beautiful paper and typeface AND, joy of joys, poems to match’ (Envoi).
And a comment on a poem which appeared in Weyfarers #95:
'Dunnett in particular has me excited... Now I want to see more of his work' (New Hope International Review Online).
And one from a review of a Frogmore Poetry Prize Anthology (Crabflower Pamphlets): 'Alan Dunnett's THE PARRICIDE is a dramatic monologue in the Browning mould that would not have disgraced the master himself' (JFH).
