Sunday 16 January 2011

Steve Spence's A Curious Shipwreck, first selection

I've just started reading Steve Spence's first collection, A Curious Shipwreck, and am really enjoying its great momentum, humour, and intelligence. Here's a first selection.


Something to declare

This film has everything, a beautiful
actress, a tragic shipwreck & a
lost fortune, yet some fear that
its failure will bring the financial
system to its knees. As I ambled
out of the door, cruelly cool & whistling,
she started to cry. It’s a little
masterpiece of elegance &
economy, irony & dirty-mindedness.

“Some of these worms are
extremely successful”, said Dr.
Livesy. After a tiring day among
the wildlife you need a base to
return to for some pampering.
As for Captain Teach, he had
long signalled his intention to
stand down in the hope of
keeping his enemies at bay.

It’s rare to meet a genius at any
point in one’s life yet whenever
he came into the room you could
immediately feel the temperature
rise. When a mood of excitement
surrounds a market, all sensible
people circle the wagons. This is
the kind of rank hypocrisy which
gives pirates & piracy a bad name.


Steve Spence
Shearsman, 2010

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