Sidekicks for Clouds is a beautiful short debut by Nadira Wallace in three delicately-constructed sections. Throughout the book, Wallace explores faith and grace in search of an anchorage both in this world and another that resides ‘beyond and beyond / our scrutinized cosmos’. There is a constant tension between the corporal and the incorporeal within the poems supplying them with an energy that is paradoxically restless and composed. The writing is restrained, spare, open, brimming with clarity, yet invested in the complexity of faith – and that means the complexity of language and feeling. On the one hand, these poems are like prayers, means towards a form of direct communion or apprehension that seek to become obsolete – ‘keen / for redundancy – these thin, singing cantilevers’; on the other, they are lyrical, ravishing, rich with sound and vision: ‘No more fear-blanched brain, then / nor that shivering that defrauds me / of day-pearl / after day-pearl.’

Toby Martinez de las Rivas

Nadira Clare Wallace has written essays and reviews for Textual Practice, SPAM zine and Rain Taxi. Their creative work has been published in Shearsman magazine and as part of Earthbound Press’s Poetry Series. Sidekicks for Clouds (Guillemot Press, 2024) is Nadira’s first pamphlet.

The cover of Sidekicks for Clouds is from artwork by Tony Martin. Tony is a regular Guillemot collaborator with artwork featuring on titles with John F Deane, Keith Waldrop and Jack Clemo.

ISBN 978-1-913749-50-7 / 32 pages / 184 x 140mm / made with Woodstock Azzurro, Gmund Bier and Arena papers

Pamphlet