Alec Finlay is a poet and artist whose work crosses over a range of media and forms, from poetry to sculpture, audio-visual and neon, adopting such innovative poetic forms as the mesostic and circle-poem. Born in Scotland in 1966 and currently based in Edinburgh, much of Finlay’s work reflects on our interaction with nature and considers how we as a culture, or cultures, relate to landscape. Recent projects include The Road North (2010-11), a contemporary ‘word map’ of Scotland composed in collaboration with Ken Cockburn over a year-long journey ( www.theroadnorth.co.uk). Recent publications include Mesostic Remedy (morning star, 2009), Mesostic Interleaved (University of Edinburgh Press, 2009), Ian Hamilton Finlay: Selections (University of California Press, 2012), and  Be My Reader (Shearsman, published March 2012). In 2010 Finlay was shortlisted for the Northern Art Prize.

Sample from Today Today Today

the air we breathe
breathes us

earth keeps
the leftovers

measure today

breath

by

breath

the day knows best
when I rest

another rip
in the curtain
letting light
or dark in