Experiencing the Language of Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Poetry

Examines the language and linguistic style of Scottish poet, Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006).
Ian Hamilton Finlay is now recognised as one of the most important figures in Scottish literary history and as a world-leader in the concrete poetry movement. While he considered himself first and foremost a poet throughout his life, his work spans a far broader array of writing, visual art and gardening. In this book, Joanna Gavins presents a rigorous exploration of the linguistic and cognitive dimensions of Finlays work, investigating what the poet termed the being of language.Spanning Finlays diverse and prolific career, the text provides a critical framework for understanding the poets varied creative outputs, from his earliest writings to the development of his world-renowned garden at Little Sparta in the Pentland Hills. An examination of the complex intersections between text, space, embodiment and cognition, this book moves beyond convention