Böcker av Arji Manuelpillai

Improvised Explosive Device is a startlingly innovative exploration of extremism, hate crime and violence by poet Arji Manuelpillai. In this powerful and unsettling first collection, Manuelpillai presents a vision of the contemporary haunted by Melville's image of the whale - the terror beneath the surface of the sea. His uncompromising focus on violence is laced with gallows humour and the surreal, framed against the mundane detritus of modern life: two boys playing Mortal Kombat; a field of old trainers; the lonely glare of laptop light; a suspicious looking package in the back seat of a van.The poems in Improvised Explosive Device emerged through research and interviews with academics, sociologists, and former members of extremist groups and their families - from the English Defence League and the National Front to ISIS and the Tamil Tigers. These complex, unnerving texts ask a series of important questions. What drives a person to commit a radical act of violence? How is that violence mediated through screens and social media? And how does the British government police marginalised groups? Improvised Explosive Device is a brave, surprising and risk-taking book; it will change the way you look at the world."e;Refusing glib analysis and easy answers, Improvised Explosive Device is a work of radical empathy, fuelled by honesty and compassion, both for those stirred to violence against minorities, and those who suffer from it."e; Rishi Dastidar"e;The project of Arji Manuelpillai's Improvised Explosive Device leans into the mighty disciplines of poetry, sociology, and reportage to formulate an arresting debut which contests the ways we're conditioned to internalise notions of terrorism, nationalism and belonging...a bold and startling new work."e; Anthony Anaxagorou

âEURœArji Manuelpillai hits the ground running with this debut and I freaking love it. His poems are funny, irreverent, hugely affecting. HeâEUR(TM)s fidgety, darts moment to moment âEUR" youâEUR(TM)ll rush after him, then suddenly find heâEUR(TM)s stopped, spun on his heel and youâEUR(TM)re face-to-face with his good-natured grin. Manuelpillai will dial up the volume just to whisper something damn beautiful beneath its surface. Every page of Mutton Rolls is tasty, and announces by increment a highly enjoyable new voice.âEUR? âEUR" Wayne Holloway-SmithâEURœThe poems in this brilliant, playful debut are multifarious though gratifyingly interlinked, addressing the subjects of Sri-Lankan British identity, masculinity, friendship, grief and love. The tone is sometimes satirical, but there is no hiding behind satire in Arji ManuelpillaiâEUR(TM)s work âEUR" great tenderness and beauty characterise these poems, and the poetâEUR(TM)s voice is completely original, entirely his own.âEUR? âEUR" Hannah Lowe