The Alarming Conservatory
Corey Wakeling

Acclaimed poet Corey Wakeling's second collection continues his inquiry into language and the spatial architectures of history and culture. Set among 20th century ruins, the poems are cast as if hallucinations: colonial-style houses are 'guarded by palm trees', Royal Park 'detains two immoveable statues' while the 'Wheel of Fortune dizzies'. The poems range throughout Melbourne and Western Australia, where the poet has lived, and further afield too. Strong in its deployment of baroque imagery and modernist citation, The Alarming Conservatory uniquely captures the fear and pace of our contemporary condition.