along comes a war – Ukraine 2022-2025

My new book, along comes a war – Ukraine 2022-2025, was published by Mad Bear Books on 24 June, to coincide with the NATO Summit in The Hague. I worked with Kyiv-based photographer Bohdana Bun to create a dialogue between poetry and photography and the book is already a #1 bestseller in the photojournalism category.

Blending perspectives from Kyiv with those watching in solidarity from afar, it explores all the emotions and passions and the themes of nationalism, resistance and complicity, while probing how (or whether) art can make a difference.

All profits will go to the Come Back Alive Foundation, supporting Ukrainians in their defence.

Inside, you’ll find:

Activist poetry featuring heroic Ukrainian writer-resisters including Victoria Amelina, Volodomyr Vakulenko and Kazimir Malevich, as well as the long, resonant tale of Snake Island, famous from the age of Helen of Troy and Achilles till the day its defenders said “russian warship, go f*ck yourself”;

Sonnets, villanelles, tanka and haiku with civilian perspectives on conflict, hope, and resilience (Ukrainian and global), including blackseafugue (a modern casting of Célan’s deathfugue) and our dreams are filled with drones;

Striking images capturing the surreality of life under attack, showing the great city of Kyiv in all its seasons, with its street-life and street-art, the mythic figure of Berehniya, the iconic Bridge of Glass, knocked out tanks and drones, seas of flags honouring the memory of loved ones, glimpses of Lviv and Odesa, galleries and parks.

You can order the print and ebook here.

We hope you’ll enjoy it!

 

poetic parataxis

robert moore’s article in n+1 explores the e-book from its inception in 1971 to future adumbrations, including interactive texts and those which rearrange themselves anew with every reading.

impressive and involving as a lot of these are, the future of linear text and storytelling is still (- i think, and i think robert moore thinks so too -) bright.

as moore puts it: Writing is a miraculous technology all its own—a code that, when input through the optic nerve, induces structured, coherent hallucinations.