Reviews and comment from the Demon Crew - creative writers at De Montfort University, Leicester.

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

Postgraduates Shine a Light on Post-Human Landscapes

Dan O’ Donell-Smith blazed the trail for this cultural creative writing smorgasbord, with readings of his evocative poetry delivered in a deadpan fashion. The poems barked a sort of machine language, depicting a digital dystopian gaming life that truly shocked the uninitiated.

Contrastingly Mystie Hood’s reading of the first chapter from her novel radiated a sinister provincial elegance. Indigenous angst and disconnect rub against multiculturalism in a residential building inside a ghetto. The paranoid maladjusted rural protagonist craves anonymity in a globalised city which refuses her the isolation she yearns. Her dysfunctional existence resonated in the well-read extract from this engaging piece of work.

Poems in progress delivered with verve by Pam Thompson whispered other worlds. A plethora of imaginative language conjured apocalyptic visions as we listened transfixed. Pam cited numerous influences including W.S. Graham and Barbara Guest. Her poems powered home, fired by visceral language and imagery that conveyed human landscapes at their bleakest.

Alex Plasatis blasted us into the magic realist zone of eviction, with his gripping tale of student domesticity under attack by the apparatus of the state. Landlord and police are deployed in a surrealist adventure to disrupt student innocence, which creates mayhem. As a consequence a bat takes flight squeaking and shrieking, freaking out the powers that be. It was a fine way to wind up this literary treat.

These readings were well attended and left us in the audience slightly disturbed but craving for more. A big thank you to everyone involved.

Laurie

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