Ian Caws has published 14 collections of poetry, one of which, The Ragman Totts, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. He has been the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award and was runner up in the National Poetry Competition. His latest collection is Founder’s Day (Dempsey and Windle).
 
He has published widely in magazines, newspapers and journals in the UK as well as in the USA, Canada, Australia, India and Hong Kong. He is married with 5 grown up children and lives in West Sussex.
 
His collections are: Looking for Bonfires (1975), Bruised Madonna (1979), Boy with a Kite (1981), The Ragman Totts (1990), Chamomile (1994), The Feast of Fools (1994), The Playing of the Easter Music (with Martin C Caseley and B.L Pearce, 1996), Herrick’s Women (1996), Dialogues in Mask (2000), Taro Fair (2003), The Blind Fiddler (2004), The Canterbury Road (2007), Asylum Tea (2011) and Founder’s Day (2020).
 
Review comments:
 

Observant, searching unrestful investigations into the shadows… humane feelings and an unusual power of construction.

 

John Fuller in the Observer

 
 

We tend to think of the Georgians as a road not taken but there is a continuing tradition – a peculiarly English one – of well made pastoral poetry and Ian Caws has for many years represented the best of it.

 

John Greening in the Times Literary Supplement

 
 

Our poetry is safe and enduring as long as there are a few poems of the type created by Ian Caws in each generation of native poets.

 

Kevin Bailey in Outposts

 
 

A pastoral metaphysical writing beautifully now in the Twenty First Century. He is a most elusive poet. What I mean is that his poems are subtle and blended like the finest malt whiskies. It takes a while to sort out the echoes, the suggestions, the allusions from each other to get the full flavour of meaning but the result is very rewarding.

 

William Oxley in Acumen