Vampire Squid

You are what you see. The deep sea – home of the uncanny vampire squid – is fathomless and mysterious, but so too are the scientists who observe the creatures of the deep.

Full of wry wit and ironic scrutiny, Vampire Squid examines the relationship between humans and the deep sea as the poet places their colleagues under the microscope to draw attention not only to the teeming life beneath the sea, but the distinctive ways that oceanographer, geoscientist, taxonomist, marine biologist and geneticist interpret the same world through very different eyes.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘The Vampire Squid, as Arasu writes (not about squid), “has no right / to be beautiful”. Yet in this debut collection, we are shown with wry wonder exactly how beautiful the squid and its compatriots of the Deep Sea can be. Brimming with formal experimentation, it playfully seeks a language for what lurks and lives in the depths of the ocean and within us.’ Caitlin Maling, author of Fish Work and Fish Song

‘The poems in this dazzling new collection plunge the reader downward into the ocean … These are poems of careful observation of the ocean and also of shrewd glances at the human beings who populate ocean science. Poets and readers who love the deep sea and scientists who plumb its mysteries will find much to reward them in these pages.’ Steve Mentz, author of Ocean, An Introduction to the Blue Humanities, and Swim Poems

‘Vampire Squid is a pleasant mix of tentacular thinking and humour, resulting in a brilliantly raw and honest offering that journeys from the glistening surface to the depths of Arasu’s psyche.’ Books+Publishing