{"id":12688,"date":"2017-04-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=12688"},"modified":"2020-12-09T14:29:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T14:29:16","slug":"raef-boylan-reviews-exclamation-marx-by-neil-laurenson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/raef-boylan-reviews-exclamation-marx-by-neil-laurenson\/","title":{"rendered":"Raef Boylan reviews \u2018Exclamation Marx!\u2019 by Neil Laurenson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"exclamation-marx-cover\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alongside serving as a Green Party councillor in Worcester, Neil Laurenson has recently launched his first poetry pamphlet. Published by Coventry-based Silhouette Press, Exclamation Marx! is a collection of witty commentaries on the political and social issues of life in present-day Britain.<\/p>\n

The eponymous first poem was published in the Rogues issue of Here Comes Everyone<\/em> (HCE) magazine, and several of the other pieces have also appeared in HCE over the years. For Silhouette Press, who founded HCE, these successes cemented Laurenson\u2019s reputation as a talented poet and they were then happy for the opportunity to work with him when he submitted his manuscript. \u2018A Sub-Editor\u2019s Last Day\u2019 achieved success in the Inspired by My Museum International Writing Competition and was printed in the subsequent anthology, while \u2018Mole\u2019 received a commendation from George Szirtes as part of the Norwich Open Writers\u2019 Circle Poetry Competition. Additionally, some of Laurenson\u2019s work has been published in Hand Job<\/em> zine, Poetry Potion<\/em> and Brittle Star. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Laurenson is self-deprecating towards his own work, describing his delivery as oscillating somewhere between comedy and poetry. His collection is geared towards performance, and even advises at the start that the book is \u201c(to be read aloud)\u201d. I can attest to the appeal these pieces hold for a live audience, having had the pleasure of seeing him recite a selection from Exclamation Marx!<\/em> at his Coventry book launch. People in the crowd seemed to appreciate the poet\u2019s blend of political frustration with clever puns and light-hearted observations.<\/p>\n

Almost every poem in the pamphlet satisfies with a punchline; however, Laurenson does not rely solely on this device, taking care to include plenty of clever lines and puns throughout. A few of the poems take this humour to the extreme, passing through with the brevity of formulaic jokes, whereas the remainder are more anecdotal. Subject matter ranges from portrayal of petty individuals to the trials of marriage and fatherhood, such as in \u2018Russian Maths\u2019:<\/p>\n

\u201cWitness our son
\nWho subtracted three and a half
\nRussian dolls
\nFrom a family of ten
\nBy flushing them down the toilet.\u201d<\/p>\n

through to wry politics, some of which is becoming more relevant by the day, as can be seen in \u2018Selection of Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Barking and Dogenham\u2019:<\/p>\n

\u201cHis profile is quite literally low
\nAnd he dribbles down his chin
\nBut you won\u2019t doubt his dedication
\nNor his willingness to please.
\nYes, there\u2019s the defecation
\nBut look at the current MPs \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

These attacks on the British Party system and on specific ideologies \u2013 those of the Tories, UKIP and even a swipe at failed Socialism \u2013 will feel welcome to certain demographics in the current climate. It could be argued that this perhaps puts the collection in danger of becoming dated but, unfortunately, I doubt that the political mess will sort itself out any time soon. In the meantime, have a read of Exclamation Marx!<\/em>\u00a0 and let Laurenson reassure you there are plenty of laughs to be had in the face of austerity.<\/p>\n

Many of the poems are structured around a consistent scheme with AABB or ABAB end-rhymes, while others take a more adventurous approach with internal rhymes or only occasional rhyming to assist the flow and pace. The suburban despair creatively explored in \u2018Death in Basingstoke\u2019 and, although inspired by Edward Thomas\u2019 Adlestrop, the everyday bleakness of \u2018Something Original\u2019:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for a minute you scowled at me<\/p>\n

As if to say<\/p>\n

I should have been more respectful,<\/p>\n

More religious,<\/p>\n

And it seemed that God agreed<\/p>\n

As the sky growled and it rained.\u201d<\/p>\n

invite comparisons to Larkin\u2019s cynicism.<\/p>\n

As an overall collection, Exclamation Marx!<\/em> would have risked fatigue had it consisted purely of protest politics. Fortunately, it features a healthy variety in terms of both content and form. Laurenson\u2019s poetry is well-crafted and good-natured, guaranteed to provoke several smiles.<\/p>\n

Order your copy of Exclamation Marx! (<\/em>Silhouette Press, Coventry) here: www.amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alongside serving as a Green Party councillor in Worcester, Neil Laurenson has recently launched his first poetry pamphlet. Published by Coventry-based Silhouette Press, Exclamation Marx! is a collection of witty commentaries on the political and social issues of life in present-day Britain. The eponymous first poem was published in the Rogues issue of Here Comes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12688"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12691,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12688\/revisions\/12691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}