The Vast Extent

'[Greenlaw] wields her erudition lightly.' Sunday Times



'Remarkable, visionary.' CELIA PAUL



'Indescribably brilliant.' Daily Telegraph



'Kaleidoscopic.' Guardian



'A rare pleasure . . . rewarding and thought-provoking.' Irish Times





From the celebrated poet, novelist and memoirist, The Vast Extent is a constellation of "exploded essays" about light and image, seeing and the unseen. Each is a record of how thought builds and ideas emerge, aligning art, myth, strange voyages and scientific scrutiny with a poet's response so that they cast light upon each other.





In this original and illuminating work, Lavinia Greenlaw invites us to observe our world and beyond with a new sensitivity.



Lavinia Greenlaw has published three novels and six collections of poetry. Her works of non-fiction include Some Answers Without Questions, The Importance of Music to Girls and Questions of Travel: William Morris in Iceland. Her writing has appeared in frieze, the London Review of Books and the New Yorker, among other publications.



From the renowned poet, novelist and memoirist, an ingenious constellation of writings on light, image, seeing . . . and the unseen.