{"product_id":"crowd-voltage","title":"Crowd Voltage","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn McCullough\u003c\/strong\u003e (author)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"a-expander-content a-expander-partial-collapse-content a-expander-content-expanded\" style=\"padding-bottom: 24px;\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJohn McCullough's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCrowd Voltage\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e addresses yearnings for community. It probes fragmentation within groups and individuals – disturbances within the body of the crowd and the crowd of the body. Engaging with working-class and queer experiences, the poems move between solitude and togetherness, haunted by ghosts from history as they dream of unity and discover joy in deserted corners. To be common here is to share not only qualities but stories with many others – to be classed alongside people with similar origins and become connected also to what is commonplace in the world of animals and plants, days and tables. Sky and sea dominate as the speakers search for oneness and completion, confronted by vast silences and the shadow of Brighton’s collapsing West Pier.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJohn McCullough has published four previous collections, one with Salt and three with Penned in the Margins, most recently, the Costa-shortlisted \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eReckless Paper Birds\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (2019), winner of the Hawthornden Prize, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003ePanic Response\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (2022), which included his long poem 'Flowers of Sulphur', shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCrowd Voltage\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a lively, striking exploration of community and connectedness, McCullough paints the body as part of something bigger, whether celestial, architectural, or ecological – these poems examine class, queer lineage, and our \"non-human family\". [...]  A bright and thoughtful book.' \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e– Jenny Danes, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003ePoetry Book Society Bulletin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJohn McCullough lives in Hove. His first collection of poems, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Frost Fairs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, was published by Salt in 2011 and won the Polari First Book Prize. It was a Book of the Year in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e as well as a summer read in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Observer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSpacecraft\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, his second collection, was published by Penned in the Margins in 2016 and shortlisted for the Ledbury-Forte Prize as well as being a summer read in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Guardian.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e His third book of poems, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eReckless Paper Birds\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (Penned in the Margins, 2019), won the 2020 Hawthornden Prize for Literature as well as being shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHis fourth collection, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003ePanic Response\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (Penned in the Margins, 2022), was a Book of the Year for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and one of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e’ Notable New Poetry Books of 2022. The collection’s long poem, ‘Flower of Sulphur’, was shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. His fifth, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCrowd Voltage\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, is published by Bloodaxe Books in 2026.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJohn is a Senior Lecturer in creative writing at the University of Brighton as well as teaching on poetry for organisations including the Arvon Foundation and the online Creative Writing Programme.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e \u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003ePublisher ‏ : ‎ \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003eBloodaxe Books Ltd\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e \u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003ePublication date ‏ : ‎ \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e2026\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e \u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eISBN ‏ : ‎ \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e9781780377810\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"a-expander-header a-expander-partial-collapse-header\" style=\"opacity: 1; display: block;\"\u003e\u003ca role=\"button\" class=\"a-declarative\"\u003e\u003ci class=\"a-icon a-icon-extender-collapse\"\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-expander-prompt\"\u003eRead less\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Rudolf Steiner Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58863304442240,"sku":"9781780377810","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3281\/8754\/files\/CrowsVoltage.jpg?v=1788539913","url":"https:\/\/rudolfsteinerbookshop.co.uk\/products\/crowd-voltage","provider":"Rudolf Steiner Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}