Taken for Pearls is the vibrant and various collection of poems by Tony Curtis, published in 1993. Included are beautiful elegies for relatives and colleagues, as well as fascinating persona poems where characters from history reveal themselves to the reader. Also featured are fine occasional lyrics inspired by domestic incidents, as well as a series of love poems translated from the dialect of the Iraqi Marsh Arabs. Throughout, the clarity and precision of the author's style allows his subjects to shine through. Poems that meditate on the darker moments of history, such as the 1993 Dylan Thomas Prize-winner 'Incident on a Hospital Train from Calcutta, 1944' are counterbalanced by the humour of 'The Captain's Diary', a long poem in the voice of an Edwardian golf club captain. "Taken for Pearls is a powerful and sensuous new collection. Curtis's beautifully structured poems open up OP worlds and draw us in. These are poems to relish, to return to, to live with"Helen Dunmore "I see the colourful density of Tony Curtis's language drawing him towards the praise tradition"Poetry Wales Tony Curtis is Professor of Poetry at the University of Glamorgan where he directs an MPhil in Writing. He has published 26 books, including nine poetry collections. A selection of his poetry has recently been translated and published in Armenia. He is also the editor of several anthologies including After the First Death, a volume of war writing (2007).