Don't Be Interesting

An acclaimed finalist for the International Dylan Thomas Prize — and one of our most galvanizing poets — takes on The Future in a sharply perceptive and provocative new collection of poetry.

Don’t Be Interesting is a collection that grapples with The Future – as public morality-keeper and private reckoner. The book explores the lines dividing the present from both the future and the past. Its channels include all the breadth of mass experience, from film and sport to science fiction novels, war, history, technology, and biography. Part travelogue, the book dredges up mid-century optimisms in Europe and America. In tones that range from wryly empathetic to downright caustic, Don’t Be Interesting calls out to idols and villains, from athletes to folk heroes to musicians to war criminals, and asks us what becomes of the future once the past and present have merged into one?