Bipolarity and ADHD to Folding Mirrors

Description This book of poems owes as much inspiration to rock music as poetry. The early poems in the collection were inspired by rock lyrics rather than poetry, with songs proclaiming the twisted effects of bipolarity, schizophrenia, paranoia, alienation and just downright depression by the likes of Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Metallica, Rose Tattoo, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies mixed with the trash escapism of Faster Pussycat and Motley Crue. In recent years the raw anarchy of the early poems was harnessed within the Folding Mirror form created by Marc Latham; of which there are many examples in this collection. The form may have been influenced by bipolarity, as it calls for two sides of a poem to mirror each other either side of a folding middle line, as bipolar moods swing either side of the fine line of normality somewhere in the mind. It is therefore ideal for highlighting two sides of a personality or mood. The subject matter and style isn't limited to the mind and serious introspection though, and the poems range across almost all the topics imaginable: from politics and myth to ocean depths and the outer limits of space; and the seasons of the year and high mountain peaks to football and comedy. About the Author Dr. Marc Latham was born in St. Helier, Jersey in 1965 and now lives in Leeds. Marc spent his teens in Wales and was an avid fan of heavy metal music; he did his utmost to emulate his rock n' roll heroes' life on the edge once he started boozing and partying. The hedonistic lifestyle was continued across the world in his twenties and in university for his thirties. This kept him feeling normal while it lasted, but once a couple of generations had pretty much given it up to live 'normal' lives Marc began to realise that he wasn't really that 'normal'. Being treated as an outsider by a university department in his own country that espoused the values of equality and diversity just brought matters to a head. Television documentaries alerted Marc to conditions such as ADHD and bipolarity, and he decided to try and take himself out of mainstream society through a freelance writing career. This had always been one ambition anyway.