He has translated plays by Péguy, Claudel, and Corneille. A book on the purposes and styles of poetry, Poetry the Basics, was published by Routledge in April2 004. His book Acceptable Words: Essays on the Poetry of Geoffrey Hill,was published by Manchester University Press in 2006. Carcanet will publish his new collection, Clarity or Death!. He is Professor in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University and teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.