Stephanie Jane recenzis DIY Or Die de Andy Carrington
Punk poetry
4 steloj
It's been over four years since I last had the opportunity to read a new collection of poetry from Bradford punk poet Andy Carrington so I was delighted to see an email from him pop up recently announcing DIY Or Die - and offering me a copy to review. The world feels like it has changed a lot in the years since What's Wrong With The Street, Carrington's previous collection, but much of it hasn't changed for the better.
As I have come to expect, Carrington's new poems vividly transmit his anger at the inequalities and injustices he witnesses, but I also felt a weariness to his words. There are deep societal divides across England and this is so clearly portrayed in poems such as 'Tourists Fuck Off', 'Help Are Own' and even 'For The Sake Of The Game'. The realities of struggling to get by on minimum wage jobs …
It's been over four years since I last had the opportunity to read a new collection of poetry from Bradford punk poet Andy Carrington so I was delighted to see an email from him pop up recently announcing DIY Or Die - and offering me a copy to review. The world feels like it has changed a lot in the years since What's Wrong With The Street, Carrington's previous collection, but much of it hasn't changed for the better.
As I have come to expect, Carrington's new poems vividly transmit his anger at the inequalities and injustices he witnesses, but I also felt a weariness to his words. There are deep societal divides across England and this is so clearly portrayed in poems such as 'Tourists Fuck Off', 'Help Are Own' and even 'For The Sake Of The Game'. The realities of struggling to get by on minimum wage jobs are a strong theme as shown in 'Unskilled Labourer Has Loadsa Jobs' and the poignant 'On The Job' which opens the collection and is one of the most powerful works. DIY Or Die isn't pretty poetry written to entertain, but insteads shouts of a pain and anguish that simply should not be experienced in twenty-first century Britain. If only 'What's For Tea?' were required reading across the board.