'Mary Blackwood writes with power and precision. She takes a razor to the times in which we live, slicing away the dross and the cant. She gifts us poetry that is deft, sure, laden with insight. If a poet's task is one of linguistic distillation, a paring down to lay bare the diamantine essence of things, then here is a poet of the very first order. Read these poems - see what language can do.' -- Pete Hay

'In Small Cosmos Mary Blackwood vividly captures worlds within worlds, from the desire to go beyond 'the edge of the truth' to the final jigsaw being 'not what you thought at all'. With sharp wit and insight, the poems traverse landscapes of domesticity, ageing, humanity's foibles, the precarious nature of safety and the inevitability of pain. The impact of meticulous crafting and subtle inferences, precision and understatement, is powerful and long-lasting.' - Lyn Reeves