'The Apocalypse Awards represents an exciting change in direction of Nathan Curnow’s award winning poetic voice. Inspired by the absurdity of the modern world, this new work charts our collective obsession with the end times, the horror and humour of our folly.' (Source: Readings website)
'Even the imagery is operating (failing?) this way, as each image is broken off at a line ending and the next one starts in hope of making sense. Just as desire can be heightened by jealousy, just as a dying poet suddenly produces three or four new books, just as a wish granted leads us to making even more outlandish wishes (or regretting all wishes), this poetry’s energy and verve might be symptomatic of the climate crisis that will be too catastrophic even for the poets to want to spend their time making from it one thing that bursts out of another.' (Introduction)
'In London’s Oxford Street, a man in a tattered coat wanders up and down, his sandwich board emblazoned with big red painted letters: The End is Nigh. It’s a phrase that has since entered the vernacular to mock the doomsayers who use any political changing of the guard or climate statistic to confirm their end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it predictions. As humans, we are just as obsessed with our demise as a species, as we are with uncovering the truth about our origins. What results is a cacophony of art and story that ranges from the absurd to the downright terrifying. Dante’s Inferno is no picnic and neither is the Book of Revelation, but the subject has also created some of the best fodder for entertainment, including the hugely popular, The Walking Dead series.'
(Introduction)
'In London’s Oxford Street, a man in a tattered coat wanders up and down, his sandwich board emblazoned with big red painted letters: The End is Nigh. It’s a phrase that has since entered the vernacular to mock the doomsayers who use any political changing of the guard or climate statistic to confirm their end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it predictions. As humans, we are just as obsessed with our demise as a species, as we are with uncovering the truth about our origins. What results is a cacophony of art and story that ranges from the absurd to the downright terrifying. Dante’s Inferno is no picnic and neither is the Book of Revelation, but the subject has also created some of the best fodder for entertainment, including the hugely popular, The Walking Dead series.'
(Introduction)
'Even the imagery is operating (failing?) this way, as each image is broken off at a line ending and the next one starts in hope of making sense. Just as desire can be heightened by jealousy, just as a dying poet suddenly produces three or four new books, just as a wish granted leads us to making even more outlandish wishes (or regretting all wishes), this poetry’s energy and verve might be symptomatic of the climate crisis that will be too catastrophic even for the poets to want to spend their time making from it one thing that bursts out of another.' (Introduction)
