Much of it composed during Peter Robinson’s eighteen years living in Japan, The Draft Will brings together a selection of his experiments with the prose poem and an extended sequence exploring a mystery in the poet’s family background. To these has been added a gathering of memoirs written for various occasions over thirty years. Among these is ‘Lost and Found’, an account of the events surrounding the discovery he was suffering from a brain tumour, and how after its removal he was able to return to Sendai, working there for a further twelve years. Robinson’s unusual attention to the timbre and cadence of English has singled him out as among the distinctive poets of his time. The Draft Will is an essential element in this evolving body of work.

‘A major English poet’ (Poetry Review)