Peter Sutton: poet, playwright, translator

A Colourful Age … brims with musicality, a wry sense of humour and sometimes tender, sometimes acute, reflections on the world and its ways …. Here are elements of Frost, Manley Hopkins, Auden (Night Mail). … These honest, generous and wonderfully diverse poems will touch many readers.

Tina Cole, winner of the Yaffle Poetry Competition, 2020

“… a multihued reflection on life’s impermanence in...a straightforward, witty, no-nonsense style. These poems can make you smile, make you cross, make you wonder and catch at your heart. They are rich with rhythm, rhyme, alliteration and musicality. Read them out loud, savour the sounds.”

Lesley Ingram, winner of the National Stanza Competition, 2020

“In this collection of superbly crafted poems, Peter Sutton connects you to a rich seam of people, places and stories...he creates lines that resonate with folk-like rhythms and benefit from his exceedingly rich vocabulary. leavened throughout with...wry humour. A very entertaining read.”

Clifford Liles, author of The Thin Veneer, Dempsey & Windle, July 2022

… a captivating collection, written by a poet who intuitively understands the Malvern land where Elgar's music was made and belongs

Sara-Jane Arbury, poet, playwright, and performer

“… an examination of the inspiration, and a poetic score to what the area has meant to so many”

David Armitage, Assistant Partnership Manager, Malvern Hills AONB

“… full of rhythm and cadence, precision, and energy … a feel-good collection, and the poet's warmth and wit breathe through every page”

Alison Chisholm, poet

“… a platform from which to understand how a creative genius takes his inspiration from his surroundings”

Stuart Freed, Acting Chairman of the Elgar Society

“… A delightful rich study of Elgar and the landscape of his life. A thoroughly compelling read”

Nina Lewis, Worcestershire Poet Laureate (2017-18)

“… entertaining and erudite … unique insights into the composer's life and work, and his beloved countryside”

Peter Smith, Artistic Director, Autumn in Malvern Festival

“… Elgar set the work of many poets to music. Compellingly, Sutton has set the composer to words”

Michael W. Thomas, poet, author, 'TLS' reviewer, lecturer at The Open University

“engaging mixture of humor, wordplay, grit, and mythology”

“cleverly mixing humour with very dark subjects”

“tremendously energetic and playful...”

“a skilled and generous performer”

“Peter made the stage come alive”

“Reading these poems is a complex pleasure. Those which narrate the small sensory act, or the evocation of place, are haunted with histories and oppressions; and those which address those oppressions directly often have a simple clarity, like the ringing of a bell.” Highly recommended.

James Sheard

“This book is a truly powerful collaboration. The beauty and tragedy of Armenia unfold, and by the end one shares in the profound sense of attachment and love which the poets and artists feel for this country. To engage with it is a deeply moving experience.“

Fergus McGonigal

“A fascinating collection. Here we read of hopes and lamentations; there we read how to open and eat a pomegranate, or how sounds are coaxed from a duduk. The particular shares space with the eternal, and the disquiet, and joy, of the individual heart find echoes in the heart of a nation.“

Michael W. Thomas

“Congratulations on this major achievement. The rest of us Langlandians are in your debt!”

Lawrence Warner, Director of the International Piers Plowman Society

“I hope your book will receive a warm reception. It has something distinctive to offer and presents the poem in a very attractive and accessible way.”

Carl Schmidt, editor of the Middle English original

“Sutton’s translation succeeds as a readable, rhythmic representation of the original.”

Choice

“Sutton is to be congratulated for producing a highly readable rendition of the poem that may intrigue new readers and will certainly entertain those of us familiar with the poem in its Middle English version.”

Yearbook of Langland Studies

“I’m still fuelled with inspiration”

Audience member, International Piers Plowman Society Conference

“A masterclass in how to engage and hold an audience”

Peter Williams, Hereford Times online

“Able to connect perfectly with his audience”

Audience member, South Downs Poetry Festival

“I was immensely pleased to undertake a happy period of rehearsals, then stick on that massive moustache and commence the tour. It was a joy to do, and meant a great deal to me.”

Gerald Harper

“A superbly crafted play”

Music and Vision Magazine

“Peter Sutton has got right under Elgar’s skin”

Elgar Society Journal

“Sutton does a skilful job”

Birmingham Post

“Very neat. It’s neatly done, altogether”

Oxford Times

“My wife and I were absolutely bowled over”

Sir Charles Mackerras