Holy Hermaphrodite by A. D. Hitchin (Shadow Archer Press, $9.95)

'Could all the division and binaries be cut and thus dissolved?' The question that A. D. Hitchin poses in the interview with Christopher Nosnibor, published as a complimentary part with his chapbook 'Holy Hermaphrodite', is one that reverberates throughout this collection. This chapbook and the crucial question is not something that will leave you. You will find it occupying your mind long after you've read this book. In fact in re-reading this, one finds more and more levels to delve into in this search and this mapping of fragments, in which their author seeks their pulse to elucidate the new - or forgotten (depends on one's point of view) form of Being and the reader finds this fascinating indeed.

The cut-up technique, originating with Tristan Tzara and developed by Burroughs and Gysin, finds in Hitchin more than a skilled adept, he elevates the cut-up to another level by the direction of the thought and innovative approach to its use. The language that he cuts-up and recreates is an electro-magnetic collage to jolt the reader out of mundane and comfort zones alike.

There is an intrinsic feel in his work of extremely intelligent investigation of subconscious, streaming or being prompted from the observation from the higher self, a close connection to super-consciousness if you like. The identity in modern life is examined from all possible angles and corners and nothing is left without meticulous probing or avoided.

Above all, this collection is like a breath of fresh air in the stale room of poetry, which these days equals the deception of mass culture, that refuses to look at itself and instead drowns in trivia and brainwash daily dispensed like Leviathan cure for the unbearable weight of the itch for something more. If you prefer not to forget that you want something more out of life - and art, this collection is one of the essentials.

Burroughs also suggested cut-ups may be effective as a form of divination saying: "When you cut into the present the future leaks out". What leaks out of A. D Hitchin's work is the all the time of the psyche compressed into the present.

Hitchin takes on - bravely - the Being/Psyche/Universe as a whole in its divisions and what he searches for is the whole where the cessation of struggle manifests in the concept of 'Holy Hermaphrodite'. This idea is introduced in the second piece (The Holy Hermaphrodite), where the process of evolution brings 'a new being/being a coagulation of sex/destroyer of dualities/third sex breaks binaries/forces death/union'. The ending of this with 'union' is perfectly juxtaposed with the very beginning 'cease separation...' (This is visually enhanced by structure in the original text). The context with death brings to mind also a process of metamorphosis. This concept of third sex, what it is and can be, and how to achieve it, is relentlessly pursued and examined throughout the collection so that it becomes not just this poet's quest, but also the readers'.

The artistic quality, intelligence, complexity, innovativeness and originality are what truly stand out and that propels me to think of this as a corner stone of achievement in contemporary poetry.


Petra Whiteley

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