Reality and escapism, protection and peeling away, prayer and sacrilege, resistance and surrender; navigating an often complex and uneven playing field, Colin Dardis strives to find balance from a life constantly fluctuating between profit and loss. The poems on offer here explore questions of existence and identity, asking who we really are, and how we can possibly be.
From reflections on mental health, to unabashed love poems, to modern mal du siècle, Apocrypha collects poems previously published between 2006-2014. Culled from a wide array of journals, websites and exhibitions throughout Ireland, the UK and the USA, this collection tracks the development of a "quirky, singular voice which sets the writer apart from the standing army of Irish poets" (Poetry Ireland Review). Dardis's poetry cut to the chase, finding moods and sentiments at the core of our existence that we don't always want to admit to, yet must possess in order to survive. BIO Colin Dardis is a neurodivergent writer, editor and sound artist from Northern Ireland. His work, largely influenced by his experiences with depression and Asperger's, has been published widely throughout Ireland, the UK and USA. His writing had been shortlisted for the Saboteur Awards, the Erbacce Prize, Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing, and Over The Edge New Writer of the Year Award, amongst others. Previous collections include All This Light In Which To See The Dead: Pandemic Journals 2020-21 (Rancid Idols Productions, 2022), Endless Flower (Rancid Idols Productions, 2021) The Dogs of Humanity (Fly on the Wall Press, 2019), and the x of y (Eyewear, 2018). He also releases ambient soundscapes albums and EPs under his DARDIS project.