Argot
The finely-‐crafted narrative power of Christopher Konrad’s latest collection Argot is unmistakable.
This is a rare poetic volume of far-‐reaching philosophical insight but with a musical sense for the intimate transactions of everyday life. Konrad’s intonations of history and nature emphasise an Australian immersion yet, at the same time, transcend the limits of a preconceived geographical space.
Argot is living proof that poetry is an experience in itself, not merely a representation of experience. I highly recommend this lyrical, thoughtful and expansive work.
Published in 2016.
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Argot (Pomonal Publishing) launch speech by Shane McCauley in Rochford Street Review
Fortunately, while packed with layers of meaning, sonorous wordplay, cultural allusions and moving imagery, Chris’ Argot is very much accessible.
To be sure, as will be noted, there is much use of paradox, the endings of poems frequently presenting alternative and sometimes opposite possibilities.
Chris draws upon a huge range of multicultural references, reflecting his close and sharp awareness of such recent and monstrous catastrophes as the Second World War and the arrogance of racism, his enquiries into the nature of the self (he is an admirer or Pessoa and his extraordinary heteronyms) and what it means to be human, a fascination with the early origins of Christianity, the impact of central European thinkers and writers such as Kafka and Karl Kraus, the moral conundrums of Artificial Intelligence. And much more.
In short, the voices and worlds of Chris’ poetry will vastly reward those who cross the frontiers of his work.