Heritage Aesthetics by Anthony Anaxagorou (Granta, £10.99)
Featuring the same kaleidoscopic imagery and expansive reach that characterised Anaxagorou’s debut, Heritage Aesthetics grapples with the way colonial history haunts the present moment, shaping the contours of institutional racism in contemporary Britain, as well as the complexities of familial relationships as individuals negotiate the legacies of intergenerational trauma. Intertextuality pervades the collection, as in the title poem where excerpts from a book of philosophy are woven through a recollection of racist attacks, first in a pub: “England scored a man wearing the classic / white shirt with three lions stitched on / rushed over grabbing him in the way men do / when they know they’re winning”, then at the hands of violent police, while the reader’s own prejudices are simultaneously called out:
