Green

‘In this delicious mini-biography of the mythic figure, Suzannah Evans has conjured up a Green Man – now modishly monikered ‘Green’ - who is witness, listener, accountant, cheerleader, of all and every aspect of nature. An inveterate listicle maker, he can’t help but nag us until our attention is drawn back inexorably to the wonder of the world; it’s nightmares too. Whether he is supervising extinctions, lavender farming, or picking up plastic litter on the beach, Green is unabashedly a fun, wry and playful personality to spend some time with.’ Rishi Dastidar; ‘Green is a contemporary secular canticle, where matter and living beings are in mischievous, polyphonic dialogue. Channelled through this beyond-human figure, it presents a decentred ecology where “Green isn’t rooting for anyone” – but where we must find a way to befriend ‘him’, without turning him into a ‘man’. Here are all the non-biodegradable distractions of our material culture: the snuffboxes we inherit – for better, or worse – from our ancestors; how we try to ignore Green, in ever more elaborate ways. Self-improvement is lampooned by hedgehogs and ivy; self-care, packaged at a premium for workers sinking into lilac-grey carpets, in lieu of lavender fields. Earth is lively and re-enchanted, in Green’s contemporary and accessible animism. We are invited to accept the majesty of llama memes alongside the ‘death drop’ of species extinction. Fuck you, Green says to the wasps, stinging him all over, I still love you. A gentle, passionate, good-natured plea, for even the stickiest, ickiest, grossest creatures to be named in Green’s – and humanity’s – affections.’ Caleb Parkin

Suzannah Evans lives in Sheffield and has published two poetry books, Near Future and Space Baby with Nine Arches Press. In 2019 she was a Gladstone’s Library Writer in Residence, and in 2021 she received a Northern Writers’ Award for poetry. Her work has been described as ‘doom-pop poetry with an apocalyptic edge.’