Rockall

Description

Rockall

by Anne Osbourn

Rockall: an island some 230 miles off the west coast of Scotland, just 60 feet above sea level. The highest peak of a submerged continent, thrashed by a stormy ocean. An isolated and dangerous place,

a sea rock of roaring
smoke and mirrors

In Rockall, Anne Osbourn takes us on a poetic journey, guiding us through historical encounters from the first recorded British landing in 1811, through shipwrecks which eventually led to the establishment of a light on Rockall in 1971, to its occupation in 2014 by the adventurer Nick Hancock. It is a polyphonic collection in which the voice of the Rock is joined by a range of vibrant characters – bustling guillemots, flashy gannets, a talking buoy, not to mention puffins, barnacles, scientists, and government officials. Begun during Covid Lockdown in 2020, these poems shift between moods, forms and perspectives. Poignant, lyrical, factual and often very funny, Anne Osbourn’s Rockall is a guide unlike any other, a living history which explores human curiosity and resilience, isolation and survival.

 

Rockall Publication Details

Published as a deluxe paperback with flaps
Paperback ISBN: 9781912665556
Published by Story Machine
Publication Date: 23/10/2026
Extent: 78pp
Format: B Format with flaps and ebook
Jacket design: Natty Peterkin

 

 

Praise for Rockall

‘Original and imaginative and beautifuuly strange’
Lydia Harris

‘This collection brings a new and often humorous perspective to the already eccentric history of Rockall, which is a fresh alternative to the dry and often political history of such a remote speck.’
Nick Hancock | Rockall Solo

‘Rockall is that rare thing, a long narrative poem which is eminently readable. An intricate weave of voices, from weather forecasters, sea captains and lighthouse keepers, gannets, guillemots and even barnacles, to the voice of the rock itself, the poem is atmospheric, heart-breaking and above all, often very funny. An elegant and beautiful reminder of the rich and fascinating lives of all our islands, even the smallest and bleakest.’
Sarah Bower, author of Lines and Shadows

‘I have saved up Rockall for days when I have time to give myself up to it. Surely, it’s the most wonderful achievement? I have only read it twice so far and am reading bits aloud to the others in our small Cornish house. I am so grateful to you for sending it.’
A.N. Wilson, author of Resolution

‘…the idea of combining science with poetry would remain just an idea if poetry were simply a form into which science could be poured … One way of approaching the task is by placing both in a human narrative context, and this is what Osbourn does with remarkable success.’
George Szirtes, reviewing debut collection Mock Orange

 

About the Author

Anne Osbourn is a poet and professor of biology at the John Innes Centre, Norwich. Her first poetry book Mock Orange was a winner in the 2018 Sentinel Poetry Book Competition, and her other poems have been published in poetry magazines including The Rialto, Orbis, The Lighthouse, Smiths Knoll, Amberflora, Steel Jackdaw, The Ekphrastic Review, as well as in a variety of international science journals. Poems commended/shortlisted in competitions include the York Literature Festival, the Flambard Poetry Prize, the Second Light Poetry Competition, and the National Poetry Competition. She has always been drawn to the natural world, and in Rockall, her professional and poetic interests find exuberant expression.