Spurious Language
James Appleby's debut book of poems
“Appleby moves through these poems like a simultaneous interpreter, always attuned to the tensions of language. His poetry is both playful and serious, human and exact — alive to the ways language binds us together even as it fractures and divides.” – Jamie Cameron, The London Magazine
“Deft and concentrated, fluent and exact, James Appleby’s poetry makes us witnesses – then steps away, leaving us among the eloquent fumes.” – Angela Ball, The Best American Poetry blog
"Appleby is obviously one to watch." - Victoria Moul, Horace & Friends
A spurious language exists in books but not outside them. A man at a funeral with ash in his mouth. A rat, a whale off an industrial coast. The recriminations of a body discovered in the street.
Restless and shifting in form, serious about humour, never shrinking from difficult subject or technique, it Spurious Language was highly commended in The International Book & Pamphlet Competition, “the most prestigious competition of its kind… launching the careers of many well-established poets” (The Poetry Business) and is currently shortlisted for the 2026 Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlets.
To order Spurious Language, please contact James at interpretmagazine@outlook.com with the subject heading 'Order of Spurious Language'. Orders can also be made at Blue Diode Publishing.
For international readers, the ebook of Spurious Language is available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FH57V2HB
