Sheer Detachment: (Salt Modern Poets)

Howard Barker’s catastophic vision is clearly visible in the sinister twilight of his new collection of poems. His world is filled with violence, conspiracy and transgression. The perpetrators of these acts are gaolers, dictators, faceless visitors, thieves and killers, dogs and Barker’s dispassionate narrators, staring over our bodies. We overhear of imminent danger and find ourselves witness to absurd atrocities in barely-sketched rooms. Or we may end up listening to the thoughts of Barker’s victims in flagrantly amoral vignettes and tableaux where household objects can gain a chilling significance. You can almost feel the falling temperature as you read these works, hear the footsteps ringing out, as the poet comes down the corridor to collect you. Recognised as one of the leading playwrights of his generation, Barker continues to explore human suffering and survival in poetry of terrifying intensity and emotional distance.

Table of Contents:
Called In Old Regime Impending 1 Impending 2 Hard Hands Now Found in the Ground 29th December 3rd January 12th February 16th June Hiatus The Loveless Move Old Mad Still A Slave Receives Instructions The Great Servants Morning, A Small State The Losses The Rumour She Gardens Naked First 13th February Second 13th February Old War Somewhere Here 72 June 19th Brute Avenue June 20th I Fling You Darling the Word In the Dark Also Law Are Your Hands Wet Loiter Detritus Common Only Beggars?: Christ Exasperated The Still Mirrors Swinging Kill I 8th February 5th March `He lay judged in a small room’ Her Arse 23rd November 29th January 25th February I Dog Dog I Prodigal 11th May The Small Sleeps Arrival An Anxiety The Route Character Powerless November 26th Some Language Three Weeks in the Water Casanova 12th May A Bruise On Me Can We Count On You? I Asked I Watched Priests 10th January A Rage Came In Sheer Detachment In Bowls Or Stains

About the Author :
Howard Barker’s first play was performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1970. Subsequently, his works were played by the Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Open Space Theatre, Sheffield Crucible and the Almeida. He is currently Artistic Director of The Wrestling School, a company established to disseminate his works and develop his theory of production. His work is played extensively in Europe, in translation, in The United States, and in Australia. He writes regularly for radio, both in England and Europe. He is the author of plays for marionettes and has written three librettos for opera. Howard Barker is the author of two works of theory, and five volumes of poetry. He is also a painter. His work is held in national collections in England (V&A, London) and Europe.