A book exploring poetry as a fractured, overwhelmed, handwritten victim of colour, brutalist child-like portraiture, abstract illustration and negative space.  I fear my best work behind me makes space around the formal domination of clean, centre aligned poetry.

The works call back to the post-war and latter 20th century explorations of Henri Michaux, Jacques Racquet and the CoBrA group especially – Christian Dotremont, Pierre Alechinsky, Asger Jorn, Lucebert, Gerrit Kouwenaars, Karel Appel – who have been enormously influential on my thinking and work. This book is a reconnection to their principles and practises, knowing it to be familiar ground, but one rarely tread and increasingly necessary in a still predominantly colourless medium.

I could barely read this, this book changed my life.   Tuur Van Balen artist

I’m just messin’ about, Karel Appel once said. Nothing was further from the truth.
I’m just messin’ about, says SJ Fowler. Nothing is further from the truth.                                                    

Bas Kwakman managing Director Poetry International Rotterdam

Stranger Press is delighted to be able to present ‘I fear my best work behind me’ as the first book to be published as part of the Poem Brut Series.

Poem Brut is an “exploration of artistic creative writing – poetry and colour, handwriting, composition, abstraction, scribbling, illustration – a project that aims to engage and energise poets, writers, artists, readers and listeners.”

Limited to 100 copies

A5
Cover 300gsm Uncoated
Dust Jacket 200gsm Uncoated
22pp text black print onto 120gsm Uncoated
70pp text full colour onto 120gsm Uncoated

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