Ruth Valentine's worked with refugees in London. Her poetry collections include The Announced (2009) and On the Saltmarsh (2012). She has also published Asylum, Hospital, Haven (1996) and a novel, The Jeweller's Skin (2013). She lives in Tottenham, London.

Books by Ruth Valentine:

Other poems on the web by Ruth Valentine:
Five poems

Ruth Valentine's Website.

About Downpour:

"In the title poem of this moving new collection, Ruth Valentine reaches for 'some implausible quiet place' Her search takes her through cityscapes and conflict zones, often finding it in interiors, both physical and mental. Many of the poems are concerned with the silent realm of death, eloquently bridging the space between this world and the next. She speaks her empathy and compassion for humanity in poems that are always precise but lyrical."
—Tamar Yoseloff

"Valentine is a formidable poet at the height of her powers. The poems shine with her close and specific observations of the world. She is always in control of the line and language, and the words lift 'as melodious as love' with their own music."
—Hannah Lowe