shades of blue is an invitation to be present to life. By turns mischievous, meditative, melancholy and ecstatic, this short collection celebrates the natural world and the mixed and marvellous experience of being human. Though shades of blue features a variety of forms and moods, it is unified by the characteristic Crispin qualities of passion, precision and tenderness. Acutely sensitive to both exterior and interior landscapes, she writes vividly and with authority. Here, as in her previous pamphlet wish you were here, Lucy Crispin honours the truth of the heart, the life of the spirit.

"Lucy Crispin would make a brilliant scene-of-crime officer, because she notices everything, and understands its significance. And there'd be nothing second-hand about her report to the CID, either, for she uses language with a vigour and freshness that puts one in mind of Dylan Thomas or Gerard Manley Hopkins... Hers is a strongly individual vision, accessible, interesting, compelling."

- RV Bailey