Words, united, will never be defeated.

Culture Matters has just announced a new collection from Michael Rosen

Can words pierce the armour of lies, bias and misinformation peddled by politicians and the media as they engineer and support war, starvation and genocide in Palestine?

Michael Rosen hopes so. This is a book of his poems, thoughts and sketches over the last year or so. They have been written in the hope that these words can bring us together and give us the truth, hope and strength to help us recognise and fight the nightmare that has unfolded in Palestine.

There are words of humour and wisdom here, woven in with words of sorrow and anger, all fluently expressed in the hope that our words, united, will never be defeated.

Culture Matters Co-operative is a collective of writers, artists and activists who work together to promote cultural democracy.

Here’s Michael’s Preface to the new book:

This is a book of poems, thoughts, sketches and performance pieces that I’ve written over the last few months.

There are times when writing can seem like a luxury, an irrelevance or unnecessary even. It can feel as if words are not enough to express the horror and depravity of what’s going on. And yet, if we don’t have words, how can we think, discuss, or express our distress, disapproval and anger? In fact, there have been times in the last few months when I’ve felt the opposite of this idea that there’s no room for words. Instead, I’ve felt drawn to the disaster going on, desperately wanting to find words to make the events feel less overwhelming. And I’ve wondered, could words puncture the armour that surrounds our politicians as they engineer war, starvation and mass killing?

I can’t answer that question other than to say, I hope so.

Then again, I ask myself, couldn’t there be a function for words, other than this one of hurling pin pricks? Might it not be possible – a bloody good idea even – that people like me put words down so that they can bring us together to help us fight the nightmare?

Ah! So there is a useful thing for us to do with words after all: coming up with expressions that give people hope and strength to get up in the morning and fight on. Put it this way, I’m one of those people who often stays on at the end of demos, listening to the speeches, while I see others drifting off. I do that because I hope that I’ll hear some things that will offer arguments, ideas and a voice for what I haven’t come up with myself.

And that’s why this book is called Words United – in the hope that words, united, will never be defeated.

Order now – all profits to go to Medical Aid for Palestinians

It is available immediately here as an ebook ( ISBN 978-1-912710-91-1, £5.), and you can order the paperback here.