David Ashford’s Xaragmata (pamphlet from Veer) is just about the most amazing stuff we have seen in the last 20 years. Described by Harry Gilonis as ‘Way Beyond Weird’, the fabric of the poetry goes so far into the recondite, dense, and plain difficult that you can only grasp it through the notes. We were overwhelmed. … A fascination for mathematics, objects constructed by numbers, and archaeology helps to push this language into the realm of dazzle and darkness. … We see the first known examples of the cultural systems we use and also a zone where they merge into something else. – Andrew Duncan, Angel Exhaust 23: Perimeter Thralls (Autumn 2015)
Xaragmata is now available directly from Veer Books here.
If you would like to read a short excerpt from Xaragmata, you can do so here.
“Xaragmata asks what is the thereness of things such as the earliest surviving weavings, fragments of pre-alphabetic script, recordings of the blitz and so on in order to turn that question back to the mode of existence of poetry. This unusual book takes us on a journey through meetings of materials and concepts so that they become transmissions which reach out beyond the original material and exist – as forms of delight – for the senses and the mind.” – William Rowe