Helen Mort Poetry Review

"The question of connection between the writing implements and the writing itself is a fascinating one. Henry James, in the novels he composed after rheumatism in his right wrist forced him to give up handwriting, can undoubtedly be overheard dictating those ever-rolling sentences to his typist. He admitted the effect himself, and noted that he eventually came to depend on the noise made by the machine as background to his creative flow. Francis reminds us that keyboards make demands that are literally digital, and may be painful (“the strain of Q in the little finger”) – at least for anyone aspiring beyond the horribly amateurish, but tempting, two-fingered approach." Carol Rumens Guardian