Grey Time
Published on 3. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
978-1-916760-20-2 (ISBN)
Description
To live is to lose, to grieve is to be human. Part elegy, part lament, part love song; Julia Webb's fourth collection Grey Time is a powerful examination of what it is to love and lose, of our relationship with both grief and the dead. Exploring the many facets and nuances of loss, Webb explores what happens before and after the sudden death of a loved one and how our relationship with them changes over time as new secrets are revealed and old hurts heal.
This book is not defined by death, however, as these refreshing, evocative poems study and witness the myriad losses of a lifetime. Julia Webb turns her forensic eye on the complexity of unresolved relationships; on what is said or not said, how people behave under duress, how violence can creep into our lives, as well as exploring her own recently discovered neurodivergence. Grey Time is a revelatory collection that takes bold leaps, binding the strange and surreal to the everyday - to make possible a place where a one mother turns owl, and another mother will teach her son how to fly.
This book is not defined by death, however, as these refreshing, evocative poems study and witness the myriad losses of a lifetime. Julia Webb turns her forensic eye on the complexity of unresolved relationships; on what is said or not said, how people behave under duress, how violence can creep into our lives, as well as exploring her own recently discovered neurodivergence. Grey Time is a revelatory collection that takes bold leaps, binding the strange and surreal to the everyday - to make possible a place where a one mother turns owl, and another mother will teach her son how to fly.
Reviews / Votes
'An outstanding collection with grief at its core - a great sweeping arc of grief, which stretches across a lifetime, taking in losses from multiple bereavements to the experience of mothering and being mothered. The experience of loss is explored with unusual fluidity, depth and dexterity: its hard truths and complexities are present throughout, but so are its moments of astounding beauty. In portraying the particularity of her grief with such insight and skill, Julia Webb has created a collection of universal relevance. A gift of a book.' -- Clare Shaw 'I hadn't finished even a first reading of Julia Webb's Grey Time when I realised these deft, moving poems would linger with me for years to come. The central sequence is haunting and unforgettable.' -- Carrie Etter 'Death is encountered everywhere in this collection that maps the journey of the one left behind - the one who must go on living. These formally assured poems travel seamlessly between the mundane and the surreal, charting with painstaking precision the shocks, complications and processes of love and grief. Courageous, visceral and immersive.' -- Jacqueline SaphraMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Rugby
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 140 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
156 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-916760-20-2 (9781916760202)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Julia Webb is a neurodivergent writer and artist from a working-class background. She has three poetry collections with Nine Arches Press: Bird Sisters (2016), Threat (2019) and The Telling (2022). She has had two poems highly commended in the Forward Prize. Julia has taught creative writing for organisations such as Lapidus, MIND, Norfolk County Council, and The SAW Trust. In 2024 she was commissioned by The National Centre for writing and Living wage Foundation to write a poem for Living Wage Week. She is steering editor for Lighthouse - a journal for new writers. Julia lives in Norwich.