Breakfast with the Scavengers

In Ben Rhys Palmer's joyful debut collection, discombobulated robots rub shoulders with philosophising hyenas, orangutan brides, Mesopotamian fish gods, and a psychotherapist from outer space. A Welsh poet based in Mexico, his poems about Mexico capture the magic and vibrancy of a country Andre Breton once described as 'the most surrealist in the world.' Other poems pay homage to Welsh cult heroes John Cale and Adrian Street, and Ben's plucky ancestor, Rebecca Howells, who emigrated to Patagonia after her husband was killed in a mining explosion at Blaengwawr Colliery. At once funny, tender, and beautifully bizarre, Breakfast with the Scavengers explores love, loss, loneliness, our never-ending quest for connection, and those blink-and-you-miss-them moments of transcendence that can light up our lives.