‘Like the granite of the islands, this collection glitters with facets, sharp-edged glints of many lives. Good writing of place is also about time; addressing a difficult history, these poems show how the past, especially the unspoken, lives in the present tense.’

Philip Gross

‘Alice Allen spent her formative years in Jersey, and her poems are imbued with its landscape, language and people. The particular focus of Daylight of Seagulls is the occupation of the island during WWII and the bravery of its citizens in the face of invasion. But Allen’s poems offer more than a history retold – they are compassionate, lyrical, inventive, often taking on voices of ordinary men and women who’ve remained unheard. She unearths the island’s secrets and sets them in front of us – treasures from a bygone world. This is a beautiful debut from a poet who understands how to evoke the potency of place.’

Tamar Yoseloff