THE SUN, THE MOON & RIPE CUCUMBERS, new poems

86pp., paperback, Crane River, Cape Town, 2025

ISBN: 9781037016868

In his second collection of poems, Stuart Payne blends traditional poetic forms with modern rhythms, echoing patterns found in popular music. 

“Stuart Payne is a wordsmith of great skill. There is not a phrase nor a rhythm out of place. His subject range extends from the heavenly bodies to his eponymous cucumbers.” Geoff Haresnape

“This is a carefully crafted, and generous collection, sensitive to the intricacies of everyday life and mindful of its transitory, often illusive, generally wondrous nature.” Patricia Schonstein

Stuart Payne is the current chairperson of the Cape Town poetry group, Off the Wall, and volunteers for Stanzas poetry magazine. His debut collection, Voices from Another Room, was published in 2018, and his poem, “Words for Dia!kwain", won the 2022 National Poetry Prize.