Charmed Lives
Smith/Doorstop 2012
published April 2012.
ISBN 978-1- 906613-52-5-5

Charmed Lives: charmed as in surviving, as in getting away with it, as in possessed, as in fortunate. Whether drawing on direct or imaginary experience, works of art, literature or myth, the lives and moments in these poems are about being vulnerable, getting by and sometimes being at one with the world. Visually evocative and grounded writing crossing and re-crossing the divide between the familiar and the strange.

Amicable Numbers
Templar Poetry, 2008.
ISBN 978-1-906285-27-2

Winner in the 2008 Templar Pamphlet Competition.
Available from www.templarpoetry.co.uk

Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice

'There is a warmth running through the whole collection, a connectedness between each poem and a loose narrative arc - as if the pamphlet were a beautifully composed piece of music.'
Poetry Book Society

'Barlow's voice is clear and direct, the space between the lines easily read. This clarity provides the perfect minimalist setting for his stand-out images and fresh perspectives'
Julia Bird, Poetry London.

Another Place
Salt Publishing, 2007.
ISBN 978-1-84471-397-4

Available from www.saltpublishing.com

'There's directness and lightness of touch, an often brilliant deftness, in Mike Barlow's poems, and an unusual warmth – all of it underwritten by vivid detail. But what he sees is only partly why his poems are so compelling; there's also the sense he has of ‘living in two worlds at once'. What he imagines is alive – vital and often dangerous. It is what makes this collection outstanding'.
Ann Sansom

'Whether he's climbing in high winds, reading about captain Cook or birdwatching on Unst, Barlow's poems all grapple, in the end, with this question of 'real life' – what it is and what lies outside it.'
Sarah Crown, The Guardian

'Out of the commonplace practice of contemporary poetry he has shaped something utterly unlike the work of any other present-day writer. This is originality of the very best kind: unforced, unobtrusive, unselfconscious.'
Alan Dent, The Penniless Press

Living on the Difference
Smiths Doorstop, 2004.
ISBN 1-902382-63-3

Winner of the Poetry Business Book and Pamphlet Competition 2003;
short-listed for the Jerwood Aldeburgh Prize for Best First Collection 2004.
Available from www.poetrybusiness.co.uk

'This collection has cumulative power, cohesion, and a particular, individual voice. The poems bring in a wide field of reference, which deepens and adds layers of understanding and meaning.'
Gillian Clarke

'Time and again, in poems that comment and build on each other, the reader encounters Barlow's questing intelligence and, best of all, a refusal to accept or offer easy answers.'
Kate Keogan, Acumen

'..takes a slice of life and stares hard at the layers. And this is no mean feat – there are some enviable moments of bravura descriptive writing...'
Clive Allen, Exultations and Difficulties.