I devoured this in an afternoon and found it to be such an insightful collection of poetry exploring an event many people couldn’t even imagine facing beforehand. I enjoyed the organisation and structure of the work presented and felt it flowed really well. Although some of the poems weren’t to my particular taste, I found the work to be comforting and reassuring that it is okay to still be processing a variety of emotions, thoughts, and feelings following the pandemic. Additionally, Cowen’s poetry was not only thought-provoking but reflective in his own experiences but encouraging reflection of ones own. Finally, I thought the illustrations complimented the poetry excellently and would absolutely recommend this to friends and family.

"The Heeding" is an excellent collection of thirty-five poems by Rob Cowen, written during and inspired by the pandemic of 2020 and hauntingly Illustrated by Nick Hayes with drawings which sometimes lean towards "folk horror". although the poems themselves don't fall into this category.
After an incredibly well-written and moving introduction, the visceral opening poem, “Duel”, tells of a battle between a hawk and a rat -

“Then it bends to rip out a strip
of glistening purple gut
and swallows the lot”

This poem is a statement of intent for what we can expect from the poetry going forward. Nature is raw and brutal, and its power and indifference is exposed in these verses, and some form of bird or creature or element of the natural world is always present in each poem. However, isolation also leads to a renewed appreciation of nature. Capturing the seemingly hopeless days of lockdown perfectly- the boredom of isolation, the separation from loved ones, the constant barrage of demoralizing news. The reference to discarded face masks littering the streets resonated strongly.
There are some very affecting lines - “Hell of a thing to be afraid of air.", and on the whole these are emotional verses, but there is humour too, in particular in “Lovers”, which tells of two young people caught in the act late at night -

"Now, reasons for being outside are concrete-set:
A form of exercise? Well, you might argue that.
He was certainly burning calories down there,
Pants round his ankles, backside bare.”

Elsewhere, we get tales of first love and lost love, but the realities of the pandemic are ever-present shadows -

“Passing her on the street, a couple
automatically swerve six feet.”

The shocking “Black Ant”, in which the author tries, but fails, to help a trapped ant, rams home the inevitability, and in some ways, the futility, of life, but the final poem, "Duel Part II", brings us full circle and gives us hope that we should keep trying -

"Death? Inevitable, yes, but not yet.
Or not today, at least."

"Lockdown poetry" will no doubt become a new genre in its own right, a kind of alternative written history of the pandemic, and "The Heeding" is one of the best examples I've read this year. There is death in these poems, but they also implore us to take heed of the natural world, each other and our relationship to it, and to hope for better times to come.

Many thanks to Elliott & Thompson and NetGalley for allowing me to view an ARC of this title.

"The Heeding" is a collection of poems and artwork written in and around the 2020/2021 coronavirus pandemic. The poems deal with such themes as love, loveliness, and the healing qualities of being in nature, with exquisite illustrations provided by Nick Hayes.

The poems were a little hit and miss for me - the good ones are REALLY good, but others I felt didn't quite hit the mark. I enjoyed the book as a snapshot of a unique year, and particularly enjoyed the poems exploring the natural world.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, who granted me a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Heeding is a stunning anthology of poems and a collaboration between award-winning writer Rob Cowen and renowned Illustrator Nick Hayes. In the introduction, Cowen enlightens us as to how he came to a deep appreciation for the natural world. During his formative years, he remembers his grandfather who suffered from PTSD precipitated by his career in the Royal Artillery in WWII and he describes how ecology and the grounding and guiding nature can bring to one’s life helped him to escape his own mind for a few hours therefore profoundly affecting his mental health. Cowen, rightly, draws parallels between nature as a healer and how nature has positively impacted many of us throughout the dreadful, and still ongoing, pandemic. There has truly never been another time when getting ’back to nature’, an activity everyone can immerse themselves in, has made such a exponential change in people’s mindset after month upon month of imposed lockdown.

There are gems throughout this richly evocative selection and some exquisite turns of phrase, and while there are beautiful black and white illustrations interspersed throughout the book, Cowen tends to let the pieces speak for themselves by presenting them in a spare, sparse and uncluttered fashion letting his poetry and the rich imagery it evokes do the talking. Throughout these years of sorrow and stress, suffering and disarray, the nature around us speaks of a world old and dying, yet simultaneously forever young and evolving. These poems speak to nature as at once beautiful and brutal, unstoppable and fragile, wondrous and terrifying, glittering and dark. They speak of the importance and power of looking, listening and being cognizant of what is around us. They explore our relationship and interplay with the natural world at a time of profound change in all of our lives.

Somehow, through these dark, unprecedented times, Cowen has found the beauty that so often lies within the destruction and presented it throughout these 35 poems. They traverse the seasons, species and provide a catharsis while reading that is very rare to find. This is an exquisite collection I highly recommend to poetry enthusiasts, those struggling to ground themselves and those who appreciate the beauty of mother nature and her bounty. At its heart, this is a book that helps us look again, to heed: to be attentive to this world we share and this history we’re living through, to be aware of how valuable and fragile we are, to grieve what’s lost, and to hope for a better and brighter tomorrow. Highly recommended.

I cannot make do with only the ARC version of this book. I need to hold it, have it tangible rather than electronic. The writing and the artwork deserve more.
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I need to be able to tear stain the pages of "The Allotment" because my heart felt every single moment. In the moment of this poem, I was there and the allotment was real.
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#TheHeeding is a meditation on all that has changed, been missed & lost over the last year.
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If I've ever told you to read #CommonGround, be prepared for me being even more obnoxious. @robbiecowen has a way with words like no one else I've read. You just need to experience the work for yourself.

I really enjoyed this short collection of poetry. The illustrations are fab, the cover looks like it will look amazing on shelves and the poems are perfect for explaining a little of how we felt over this past year - love, loss and morality.

A beautiful book of poetry written during the pandemic. Rob Cowen writes about nature and the natural world and in this collection uses this to also write about and document life through the pandemic. The book also has fabulous illustrations throughout by the talented Nick Hayes.

I really enjoyed reading this and read it through twice in one sitting. It captured the last year really well and I think summed up so many peoples experiences as well as having some wonderful nature observations too. A very solid five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed this, Poetry is not normally for me but the way this was put together was perfect for me.

What an absolutely beautiful collection of poetry. I really enjoyed reading each and every one and very much enjoyed the language and connection to nature that the writer has. This book was written during the corona virus pandemic and so references this a lot. However, it was not too much that it would put you off, more of a personal account of thoughts and feelings entwined with nature.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing and advanced readers copy in exchange for review. I would definitely recommend to anyone that enjoys poetry (not so much of poetry isn’t your thing)

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. On the one hand, I feel like Rob Cowen set the bar fairly high with a beautiful introduction. On the other, I feel like most of the poems would have worked as prose, as short observations on the world around him; once you read them like that, you enjoy them more.

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read and review this ARC!

Thank you to the publishers Elliott & Thompson for accepting my request to read this collection of poems as an E-ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Collections of poems aren’t usually what I gravitate towards, but I’ve read a few more the last couple of years and enjoyed them, and I know I tend to like illustrations that goes with the words and Nick Hayes style was a great addition to this collection.

It says in the description that these poems have been inspired by Cowen’s life (or view on life) during the pandemic and how life can be when you can actually stop and take in your surroundings in another way than before.

That said, it’s been a couple of days since I finished this, and I can’t recall any of the poems which is reflected in the ratings. I don’t think this is Cowen’s fault, maybe this sort of poetry just wasn’t what I wanted just then and there.

2.5⭐

i never know how to rate a poetry collection lol, anyway i liked it, but also it's really forgettable and i found myself sometimes bored. i enjoyed a few poems, others - i didn't quite get the meaning of. i also liked the pictures in this book that looked really old school, i think that's not the type that we see in modern books now! but still, i don't think i would recommend this to anyone, unless u're fully into poetry and like playing with words. this poetry collection is basically about our relationship with natural world & coronavirus.

A celebration of nature. These poems are transformative. I highly recommend this collection. All readers will enjoy it.