The Oasis by Charles Lang
Poetry Book Society Recommendation Spring 2025

In The Oasis, the working-class experience is examined in fresh and original ways, through the uncertainties of childhood and youth, and into new perspectives. Moving across Scotland, Ireland and Europe, from the thrill of an amusement arcade to moments of solitary contemplation, this collection uniquely considers the intersecting complexities of social class, masculinity and selfhood, challenging tradition and recreating aesthetic possibilities with an invigorated joy in language. Weaving through encounters with urban and natural environments, these are poems of deep attention, reaching for the solace to be found in community between the human and more-than-human world.