Sorcerer, a collaborative between British artist Ed Atkins and American poet Steven Zultanski, is a book in the form of a script/novel/manual about the pleasures of being with others and of being alone. Sorcerer was originally a play commissioned by and staged at Copenhagen's Revolver Theatre in March 2022.
Exploring the nuances of communication, this poetry collection delves into the author's family history, particularly the story of a relative ostracized for his beliefs during WWII. It weaves together personal anecdotes and dialogues with friends, reflecting on themes of love, urban living, and the constraints of space and empathy. Through a blend of humor and introspection, the work presents a love poem to everyday life, highlighting the beauty in mundane details and the complexities of human connection.
Poetry. Bribery is a long poem in which the author confesses to unsolved crimes in New York City, rants about politics, and lives for thousands of years.
Agony is the first in a trilogy of long confessional poems. It uses semi-rigorous mathematical and logical constraints to view the author's life and body, telescopically, as little bits of time and space. Everything written here is as true as possible - that is to say, pretty true. It attempts autobiography as a refutation of autobiography, and an elevation of the self as self-effacement. Love pops up as a theme quite a bit. So does self-mutilation, etc. There are a lot of numbers, but don't worry, it's more about politics and fantasy than numbers, even though, as usual, they show up everywhere. Just like pieces of your body after you've cut them off and scattered them all over the world, and then go out looking for them again, for some reason.
Exploring a variety of poetic modes, this collection features 18 poems that range from quasiconceptual to hyperactive lyric collage. The intuitive ordering creates a seemingly cohesive structure, yet the work is underpinned by just a couple of core ideas. The book challenges readers to uncover these concepts while embracing its elusive nature. It resists conventional interpretation and reflects on the complexities of love, conflict, and the act of authorship itself, presenting a unique and thought-provoking experience.