Product Description
S. K. Kelen’s oeuvre covers a diverse range of styles and subjects, and includes pastorals, satires, sonnets, odes, narratives, haiku, epics, idylls, horror stories, sci-fi, allegories, philosophical musings, prophecies, politics, history, love poems, portraits, travel poems, memory, people and places, animals, trees, cars, meditations and ecstasies etcetera. The poems’ vision is encyclopedic and intimate, humorous yet deadly serious; bustling with imagery, voices, dreams, spirit, fun, adventure, and serenity.
REVIEWS
“I was excited to read a collection that offered something a little different. And that is, indeed, what Kelen offers readers in A Happening in Hades. There is literally something for everyone. The medieval-esque ‘Barbarian’—which opens the collection—is a personal favourite:
Hast thou forsaken me each cried
to a private god. Yo! each god replied …
Red lights, the home audience stare
at shiny screens. It is a Golden Age.
The barbarians watch and listen. (11)
What I enjoyed most about this poem is how it seamlessly blends historical concepts like Vikings or barbarians with the concept of reality shows; the barbarians are watching and critiquing our every move as entertainment. The image this creates and how it makes the reader reflect on their life is why this poem is so good. Furthermore, it is almost like an indication of the diversity readers can expect from the whole collection.” JACKIE SMITH, Westerly Magazine
“It’s a wonderful selection, paced in a way that enables pondering and musing between items. Without the imposed restrictions of external rhyme and rhythm, all the marvellous checks and balances are internal, delineated by the poet’s self awareness, control, and intuition.” DEVIKA BRENDON, Rochford Street Review
