Steve Spence - Maelstrom Origami

Publsihed 2014. Paperback, 9x6 ins, 92pp.
ISBN 9781848613522. [Download a sample PDF from this volume here.]

Steve Spence’s new collection of poetry – his second from Shearsman Books – is a continuation of the mapping of contemporary cultural and political topics through the medium of montage, intervention and startling juxtaposition. While this poetry has its serious side there is plenty of scope for fun and a celebration of the strange and ‘off-key’. There are still a few odd-sounding fish, and the occasional cloud or pirate may appear when least expected, yet it’s a developing terrain where almost anything can happen and often does.

Of his first collection – A Curious Shipwreck (2010), which was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection – the following things have been said:

‘I think these poems are likeable, funny and intelligent, their satire exact for these times’ – Michael Mackmin, The Rialto.

‘Its blend of surrealism and satire captures a topical sense of bemused disillusionment with great panache. I loved this book – it’s the real deal…’ —Nathan Thompson, Stride Magazine.

‘Now and then one is startled by the freshness and bravery of some contemporary poetry… This is a ship steered by Werner Herzog and captained by Klaus Kinski. This is New Labour written by Lewis Carroll’ – Fred Johnston, Tears in the Fence.

‘The whole book is a brilliant, surreal, post-modern slapstick take on the crisis…’ —Andy Croft, The Morning Star.

Praise for Limits of Control , published by Penned in the Margins in 2011:

‘The poems are far more than the randomly generated montages they might at first appear to be.…. Rarely have I read a work that manages to represent the complexities of contemporary experience so completely and truthfully’. —Lindsey Holland, Tears in the Fence.

‘A despairing, demanding despatch from a place of broken dreams’.

—The Poetry Society.

‘ Limits of Control is a collection of prose poems and about 75% of its lines are killers. One wants to keep in mind the recurring motifs and themes’. —Martin Stannard, Stride Magazine.

‘Steve Spence presents short prose poems that splinter and fragment before your eyes and ears’ —Ian MacMillan, The Verb, BBC Radio 3.

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