ABOUT THE BOOK
In Undercover Work, Nick Burbridge masterfully
intertwines the shadowy world of espionage
with poignant explorations of humanity’s
fragility. This collection exposes the lives of those
operating in the margins -- undercover officers
surrounded by ethical dilemmas, poets suffering
from psychosis, families and lovers whose
relationships are blighted by the dereliction of
society. Essential to its understanding is a unique
insight into the Irish Troubles and their resolution,
military ‘dirty tricks’
, and the effects on ordinary
people. The book deliberately evokes
comparisons with other forms of conflict and
every poem speaks the harsh, raw essence of
the complex interplay of identities, loyalties and
histories. Burbridge’s work is an intense reflection
on sustaining oneself and the cost of living with
concealed truths. The book appeals to readers
looking for narrative poetry characterised by
wry but impassioned observation.
For all its unflinching focus, this is a rare,
kaleidoscopic collection, shot through with
black humour, empathy, and a real sense of
poetic justice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Burbridge is the author of The Unicycle Set
(Waterloo, 2011), All Kinds of Disorder
(Waterloo, 2006), and On Call (Envoi, 1994). His
poems have appeared in major periodicals.
His plays include Dirty Tricks (Soho Theatre),
Vermin (Finborough), and Cock Robin (Verity
Bargate Award Runner Up). His novel
Operation Emerald (Pluto) was published
under the pseudonym Dominic McCartan. He
collaborated with Fred Holroyd on War without
Honour (Harrap/ Medium), launched at
Westminster. His stories feature in journals and
Arts Council anthologies. A stalwart of the folk
revival, he has made eight albums with
McDermott’s Two Hours, and The Levellers.
With imagery as dense as blood clots, Burbridge
imbues the cadences of demotic speech with the
whisky-breathed lilt of the fiddle or the glass-eyed
slur of the needle to hold a mirror to 21st-century
British urban life with more incisive results than any
number of government working parties could ever
hope to attain.
(Oz Hardwick RnR )
Nick Burbridge is a fine story-teller, whose poems
are both worldly and wise…bustling with life, like
a small community, its inhabitants portrayed with
deftness, diversity and detail.
(Will Daunt, Envoi)