Released December 31st, 2024 // 104 pages // 978-1-916938-63-2 // RRP: £12.99
In Alive Among Dead Stars, A C Clarke brings a fragmented poetic exploration of the emergence of Dadaism and Surrealism in post-World War I Paris, viewed through the lens of key figures like Paul Éluard, Gala, and Salvador Dalí. The collection parallels the turbulence of personal relationships with the political and social upheavals in Europe between the wars. Structured around the Dadaist and Surrealist techniques of 'Erasure', 'Collage', and 'Paranoia', it reflects the disillusionment with old traditions and the chaotic creativity born from the horrors of the Great War. Alive Among Dead Stars weaves real historical moments with fictional elements to capture the shifting, surreal atmosphere of the time.
PRAISE for Alive Among Dead Stars:
A C Clarke once again fuses poetry with speculative biography in her new collection Alive Among Dead Stars, in which she explores the birth of Dadaism and the Surrealist movement in a shattered Europe recovering from the First World War. Her vivid and adventurous poems immerse the reader in the cauldron of art, literature, and philosophy which transformed the Twentieth Century. Voices and forms shift and interact over a sequence of seventy poems, focusing on the love triangle between poet Paul Éluard, his first wife Gaia, and her second husband Salvador Dali. The poems are surreal, playful, conversational, experimental, and intellectual, painting a vibrant picture of remarkable people and times rich in creativity and intrigue.
— Andy Jackson
A delightful, though not unexpected surprise, A C Clarke’s new work is true to form. A natural evolution from Wedding Grief, Alive Among Dead Stars is both familiar and intimately different. Just as it echoes the past, readers can see resonances with Clarke’s previous work, resonating anew with further growth and skill. Dynamic, engaging, and ever-changing, Stars continues Clarke’s fantastic ability to explore history through liquid forms and voice, delving into the many intimate tragedies of post-world-war-Europe with a respect not often seen in writing or film. Succinct and lean, neither excessive nor starved, Clarke offers a rare treat - a completed, sublime collection worthy of any collection or library.
— James McLeish
How do you pin the extraordinary fluttering of the butterfly of Surrealism and Dadaism which emerged from the trenches, in order to understand the ‘vast canvases cavorting’ and the ‘barbecue of dreams’, in the lead-in to the Second World War? Anne Clarke’s astonishing verse narrative examines historical sources, and employs the experimental techniques of the movements themselves. The exquisite corpse is gloriously there, and it is vivacious, whilst the imagined Ricky’s commentary fixes the almost impossible whirl for the reader.
This is a remarkable book, which explodes with the people and the times when Dada emerged ‘like a clown’s car’ in those most dangerous of times. It manages to be both scholarly and yet, it’s also a page-turner, and it speaks to anyone fascinated by that period, but it also speaks to now.
— Beth McDonough
ABOUT A C Clarke:
A C CLARKE has published five full collections and six pamphlets, two of the latter, Owersettin and Drochaid, in collaboration. A Natural Curiosity was shortlisted for the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. She was one of four winners in the Cinnamon Press 2017 pamphlet competition with War Baby and was commended in the 2005 National Poetry Competition, and longlisted in the same competition in 2014. She has twice won the Second Light long poem competition. She lives in Glasgow.
