Output details

An Artist Goes Bananas

The poems chart the experience of living in an age of chaos and absurdity, and address the potential consolations of art and humour. Research for the volume included studying the lives of writers and artists like Ted Berrigan, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Carver, Joe Orton, and Walt Whitman, and exploring the cities and landscapes that inspired their work, including London, New York, and Los Angeles. The result is stylistically eclectic comic reflections on the relationship between context and creativity which can be seen in poems such as ‘New York Poet,’ ‘Noel Road,’ and ‘L.A. Poet.’ The research also involved visiting locations associated with the dissemination of art and writing such as the Saatchi Gallery (see the poem ‘Charlie’s Art’), and the Hay on Wye Literary Festival (see ‘Author Observed’). Generally the book reflects the author’s interest in the artistic possibilities of comedy, and constitutes a creative complement to his on-going scholarly work on this issue, which has included papers on the relationship between comedy and poetry in the work of Luke Kennard, Bill Hicks, and Russell Brand.