Scream Blue Living: New and Selected Poems

David E. Kemp is head of the Drama Department at Queen’s University.

This collection brings together the best of Robert Priest’s previous
four volumes of poetry and a generous selection of new work. Priest is a
poet, singer, playwright, novelist, and writer of books and songs for
children. As diverse as the poet’s background is the content and style
exhibited in this collection. Whether engaged in narrative, drama,
comedy, satire, lyric, or social commentary, the poet’s voice is
always assured and manages to be at once dramatic and visionary. There
is a superb balance between poetry of ideas and poetry of feeling. The
content is frank and often erotic, but the leaven of laughter is never
far away.

This is a magnificent collection—profound, religious, and
challenging—from a poet who has obviously lived a rich, full life, and
who has succeeded here in communicating it vibrantly to his readers.