Clare Pollard's debut novel Delphi is published in hardback by Fig Tree: a mesmerising story of our pasts, our presents and our futures, and how we keep on living in a world that is ever-more uncertain and absurd. To celebrate its release, Pollard has chosen some of her favourite novels written by poets.

I’ve always written across genres, and a lot of my favourite novelists do too. Writing poetry teaches you so much about the relationship between form and content, and really makes you pay attention to language at the level of the line – reading it aloud, checking the rhythm, making sure every word is exactly right and has earned its place. There are currently a lot of superb poets crossing over into prose – Daisy Lafarge, Joe Dunthorne, Luke Kennard, Kei Miller, Ocean Vuong, Polly Clark, AK Blakemore, Sam Riviere and Mona Arshi amongst others – all of whom I’d highly recommend, but here are some of the originals.  

Clare Pollard is an award-winning poet and playwright based in London. She is the author of five poetry collections – her first published when she was just 18! - and was the Editor of the Modern Poetry in Translation magazine until June 2022. Clare's play The Weather premiered at the Royal Court Theatre and her translation projects include a version of Ovid's Heroines, which she toured as a one-woman show. Delphi is her first novel, published by Fig Tree in July 2022.