Penguin Modern Poets 5: Occasional Wild Parties

Description

From psychoanalysis to Kim Kardashian to what goes on behind high society's closed doors, three original and witty takes on civilization's dark underbellies Occasional Wild Parties brings together Sam Riviere, one of the most discussed of the new generation of British poets, whose 'post-internet' poetry sees him acting now as scribe, now as DJ, taking in everything from technologized romance to celebrity culture as filtered through Kim Kardashian's make-up routine; the 'elegant ghoul' Frederick Seidel, zooming through the dark underbelly of international high society on his Ducati racing bike; and the wonderfully observant Kathryn Maris, whose work ranges with a dark wit over incomprehensible deities, wayward mothers, the politics of children's sports contests, and psychoanalysis. All three lift the lid on their corners of civilized society to show the less glittering realities that lie just beneath the surface.

Sam Riviere's books include 81 Austerities (Faber, 2012; winner of the Forward Prize for Best First Collection), Kim Kardashian's Marriage (Faber, 2015) and the pamphlets Standard Twin Fantasy (2014) and True Colours (2016). Safe Mode, an ambient novel, is published by Test Centre (2017). He lives in Edinburgh. Frederick Seidel was born in St Louis and lives in New York City. His collections include Final Solutions (1962), Sunrise (1980), Going Fast (1998; a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry), Ooga- Booga (2006), Nice Weather (2012) and Widening Income Inequality (2016). He has won many prizes. Kathryn Maris is originally from New York and has lived in London since 1999. Her collections are The Book of Jobs (Four Way Books, 2006) and God Loves You (Seren, 2013); her third, The House with Only an Attic and a Basement, is forthcoming from Penguin in Spring 2018.