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Paperback, 145 x 212mm
64 pages
Published 2005
Hypnic jerks occur on the point of sleep when our brains, alarmed by the sensation of falling, send out our limbs to catch us. The poems in Hypnic Jerks – especially the two highly innovative stories in verse, ‘A Green Jesus’ and ‘Little Bits of Harry’ – seem to come from this zone, in which the settled order of apparent autobiography is disrupted or illuminated by fragments of surreal imagery or language play.
Praise for Hypnic Jerks
‘… a deeply ironic, blasphemous, satisfying communion.’ —Mark Houlahan, Dominion Post
‘These are thoughtful, funny poems. His stories in verse “A Green Jesus” and “Little Bits of Harry” show how Cochrane is full of clever ideas and intelligence.’ —Hamesh Wyatt, Otago Daily Times
Geoff Cochrane is the author of sixteen collections of poetry, two novels, and Astonished Dice: Collected Short Stories (2014). Geoff received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award in 2014. In 2009 he was awarded the Janet Frame Prize for Poetry, and in 2010 the inaugural Nigel Cox Unity Books Award.