Michael Gould

About the book

Perverse Verse contains short poems, previously published and new. The tone both humorous (often black) and reflective. This is poetry from someone outside the mainstream of contemporary poetry in Aotearoa New Zealand (i.e., outside academia). It will appeal to the hip general and literate reader and lovers of wordplay.

The poems’ themes: life/death, success/failure, love/sex/relationships, nature/the environment/technology, identity/mental health/illness, explore how we live now in our contemporary screwed-up world. Held together with sophisticated wit and a liberal use of rhyme; readers need not labour trying to de-code the poems because the language is accessible and clear. There is no obscurity, but provocation and frankness abound.

“ … (The poems are) scathing, direct, abrasive, deflationary, peremptory, cartoonish, witty, iconoclastic … poems that work on more than one level, that have a twist or take the reader by surprise … (The) best poems are very good indeed … internationalist  … “

David Eggleton, New Zealand poet laureate (2019-2022)

“Anarchic, funny, sometimes gay, sometimes angry, always criticising the world, and unique.”

New Zealand Listener (Nicholas Reid)

” … this kind of writing is a rarity in Aotearoa poetry. It’s light verse with dark humour …Gould’s reminiscences are the cynical reflections of a happy man. Imagine Charles Bukowski fathering a lovechild with Pam Ayres.“

Aotearoa New Zealand Review of Books (James Littlewood)