Limited Verse

In the year 2099, a prison population is transported to a world where their memories will be Cleaned and Harmonized into the language of New English. One person secretly translates poetry into this limited tongue as a gift to a self who will no longer be able to understand it. Two scholars discover a manuscript of poems, a work of translation, and a record of a desperate experiment in the years beyond this time, which becomes a window to an impossible realm. Limited Verse is a collection of familiar poems made newly strange, inspired by the real-life restricted language Basic English and the works of George Orwell, H.G. Wells, and Jorge Luis Borges.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 136 pages
Publication date: 30 April 2024
Publisher: University of Calgary Press

In the late 20th century, a prison population awaits transport to a world where their memories will be Cleaned and Harmonized into the language of New English, made up of only 850 words. One person, aware of this inevitability, secretly translates poetry into this limited tongue, a gift to a self who will no longer be able to understand the literature they love. In the years beyond this time, two scholars make a remarkable discovery: a book of poems, a work of translation, and a record of a desperate experiment. This manuscript becomes a window to an impossible realm, and they work diligently to understand the storied document and its tangled history.

Limited Verse is an uncanny collection of familiar poems made newly strange, wrapped in a fascinating speculative mystery. Inspired by the real-life restricted language Basic English, a project of linguist C.K. Ogden, and by the work of George Orwell, H.G. Wells, and Jorge Luis Borges, author David Martin invites you to a place where nothing—not our words, not the building blocks of worlds—is quite what it seems.

In the late 20th century, a prison population awaits transport to a world where their memories will be Cleaned and Harmonized into the language of New English, made up of only 850 words. One person, aware of this inevitability, secretly translates poetry into this limited tongue, a gift to a self who will no longer be able to understand the literature they love. In the years beyond this time, two scholars make a remarkable discovery: a book of poems, a work of translation, and a record of a desperate experiment. This manuscript becomes a window to an impossible realm, and they work diligently to understand the storied document and its tangled history.

Limited Verse is an uncanny collection of familiar poems made newly strange, wrapped in a fascinating speculative mystery. Inspired by the real-life restricted language Basic English, a project of linguist C.K. Ogden, and by the work of George Orwell, H.G. Wells, and Jorge Luis Borges, author David Martin invites you to a place where nothing—not our words, not the building blocks of worlds—is quite what it seems.

In the late 20th century, a prison population awaits transport to a world where their memories will be Cleaned and Harmonized into the language of New English, made up of only 850 words. One person, aware of this inevitability, secretly translates poetry into this limited tongue, a gift to a self who will no longer be able to understand the literature they love. In the years beyond this time, two scholars make a remarkable discovery: a book of poems, a work of translation, and a record of a desperate experiment. This manuscript becomes a window to an impossible realm, and they work diligently to understand the storied document and its tangled history.

Limited Verse is an uncanny collection of familiar poems made newly strange, wrapped in a fascinating speculative mystery. Inspired by the real-life restricted language Basic English, a project of linguist C.K. Ogden, and by the work of George Orwell, H.G. Wells, and Jorge Luis Borges, author David Martin invites you to a place where nothing—not our words, not the building blocks of worlds—is quite what it seems.

In the late 20th century, a prison population awaits transport to a world where their memories will be Cleaned and Harmonized into the language of New English, made up of only 850 words. One person, aware of this inevitability, secretly translates poetry into this limited tongue, a gift to a self who will no longer be able to understand the literature they love. In the years beyond this time, two scholars make a remarkable discovery: a book of poems, a work of translation, and a record of a desperate experiment. This manuscript becomes a window to an impossible realm, and they work diligently to understand the storied document and its tangled history.

Limited Verse is an uncanny collection of familiar poems made newly strange, wrapped in a fascinating speculative mystery. Inspired by the real-life restricted language Basic English, a project of linguist C.K. Ogden, and by the work of George Orwell, H.G. Wells, and Jorge Luis Borges, author David Martin invites you to a place where nothing—not our words, not the building blocks of worlds—is quite what it seems.

Weight: 254g
Dimension: 150 x 228 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781773855318