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The Late Guest

Stephen Payne

The Late Guest

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  • £10

This book will be released in October 2026.

Pre-orders are charged at time of order and the book will be posted to you as soon as it becomes available.

UK postage is 99 pence per order.

 

 

'Deftly teetering from small occasion to whimsical association, with a glance at some lightly worn knowledge, some close-to-the-bone apprehension, on the way, the apparently casual voice of these prose poems knows exactly what it’s doing. Think of the skill of the tightrope walker, always almost falling in a way that makes us smile… and gasp now and then. Yes, like that.’ – Philip Gross

 

The prose poems in The Late Guest dwell on remembered episodes, accidental encounters, overheard conversations, daydreams and art works to find surprising meaning – allegories from fragments and insights into the life of the mind. Readers of these poems might be amused or moved, or both at once, but also provoked to think outside the poems’ small, clear boxes.

In this playful and deft collection, pickpockets, psychoanalysts, professors and philosophers run amok. There are exuberant dolphins, aggressive whales and unsolvable arguments. Boys mime causes of death at the swimming pool and a geyser erupts sporadically but a trip to the Repair Café should see you right. Future wives and other interesting encounters may be found in the kitchen of a party, if only you could arrive on time.

 

 

Praise for Pattern Beyond Chance:

‘Payne’s poems are accessible as well as intelligent.’ – Katherine Stansfield, gwales.com

‘Payne’s amiable juggernaut of curiosity seduces effortlessly.’ – Terese Coe, New Walk Review

 

 

Stephen Payne was born in Merthyr and lives in Penarth. He has published poems in magazines including The Poetry Review, The Rialto, The North, The Dark Horse, Magma, Poetry Wales and New Welsh Review. He was a Smiths Knoll mentee which led to the publication of his debut pamphlet, The Probabilities of Balance in 2010. His first full collection Pattern Beyond Chance was published by HappenStance in 2015 and shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. It was followed by The Windmill Proof (2021) and a pamphlet The Wax Argument & Other Thought Experiments (2022). Stephen’s job until recently was Professor of Human-Centric Systems at the University of Bath where he is currently Professor Emeritus.