Warning Light Calling by Peter Graarup Westergaard

(Vræyda Literary Press, 2021)

Reviewed by Susan Peak

In reviewing a book, I consider how well it fits in its genre. And how well is it written. Judging whether a poem is well written can be considered objectively. For example, if it is a sonnet, does it actually meet a sonnet’s requirements? But it’s also subjective, very much so when it comes to free verse when the focus is more on the effect of the poetry. And where the effect relies on feelings and images, it can be harder to assess it against a specific genre. Both aspects were a challenge in this review.

Peter Graaup Westergraad’s narrative poem, Warning Light Calling, is described as an SF novella in verse. I found it to be less clear-cut than that, and perhaps more interesting.

There is no sequential story. The book has a lengthy introduction by the author describing the main protagonist: Sputnik Peter. It is he who is portrayed as having written the subsequent poems (very meta). There is nothing clearly science-fictional in the description, despite his being called a cosmonaut. But there are hints of playing around with, or questioning, both identity and reality. Sputnik Peter is Danish (as is Westergraad), a gamer and a writer, and worked in a psychiatric hospital in Aarhus before becoming a hot-dog vendor. Games and the psyche play a large part in the poems.

There are Soviet references in the poems, and there is a strong dissident feel to them, for example, in ‘The Museum of Ideas’, ‘The Red Space Cavalry’, The Prison Satellite’. The general tone is subversive, perhaps also escapist (in ‘Yet No Contamination’, Sputnik seems to be the sole survivor of a plague).

The poems reminded me of New Wave SF of the 60s and 70s in how they play around with reality: various ideas and relationships weave their way through the book supported by varying styles of poem. I strove to find a pattern in the poems, a coherent meaning, but failed to do so—but perhaps that is the point?

The poems themselves do not follow any specific form; they are free verse. But the form they do have varies. There are several very short poems written in italics and set in Aarhus. There are poems in a more standard layout straight down the page; there are a few prose-poems, and several other poems which are laid out randomly (apparently) across the page. There are also two short stories in the book (‘The Trojan Love Machine’, ‘Space Soldier’). But the SF references—being in outer space—appear to be metaphors or visions. Despite the variety of styles and images, there is one clear voice throughout: that of Sputnik Peter.

I found this to be an enigmatic book, but one that I also found to repay re-reading. A first reading was necessary simply in order to engage with the book and to get a sense of its contents and shape. On the second reading, I found many of the poems to be intriguing, conveying images that didn’t necessarily make sense in themselves, but which contributed to the atmosphere of the whole book. Many of the poems have a twist to them—one about Jesus (‘an odd man’) describes how ‘unhappy people became happy’ but concludes ‘if only he had said to them “Go away”.’ I was left wondering why and felt prompted to read the poem again. Full understanding eluded me, and I suspect it is meant to, but the twists and turns were stimulating.

This book is probably as much SF genre as a lot of New Wave fiction, which is to say very little, but it is memorable. If you are already interested in SF poetry, then I would say this is worth seeking out provided you like being baffled and intrigued.

If you are interested in reading more SF poetry, then I recommend looking at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association website.

Review from BSFA Review 19 - Download your copy here.