Prema Arasu introduces The Book of Sea Monsters
About
Join Prema Arasu as she discusses her deep-sea poetry collection, Vampire Squid, and anthology The Book of Sea Monsters: Leviathans of Literature with Professor Alan Jamieson, Director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre.🗓️ Thursday 21st May
🕒 Doors open 5:30pm for a 6:00pm start
📍 The Lane Bookshop
🎫 Tickets: $15 ticket only, $39.99 ticket with Vampire Squid, $55.00 ticket with The Book of Sea Monsters, $79.99 ticket with both books
ABOUT VAMPIRE SQUID
You are what you see. The deep sea – home of the uncanny vampire squid – is fathomless and mysterious, but so too are the scientists who observe the creatures of the deep.
Full of wry wit and ironic scrutiny, Vampire Squid examines the relationship between humans and the deep sea as the poet places their colleagues under the microscope to draw attention not only to the teeming life beneath the sea, but the distinctive ways that oceanographer, geoscientist, taxonomist, marine biologist and geneticist interpret the same world through very different eyes.
‘The poems in this dazzling new collection plunge the reader downward into the ocean … These are poems of careful observation of the ocean and also of shrewd glances at the human beings who populate ocean science. Poets and readers who love the deep sea and scientists who plumb its mysteries will find much to reward them in these pages.’ Steve Mentz, author of Ocean, An Introduction to the Blue Humanities, and Swim Poems
ABOUT THE BOOK OF SEA MONSTERS
A fascinating and beautifully illustrated journey across the world and through the centuries in search of the sea monster.
'They rave for food with unceasing frenzy, being always ahungered and never abating the gluttony of their terrible maw.' Pliny the Elder
This absorbing exploration of the sea monster in all its tentacular forms is a deep dive into the world of sirens, mermaids, Scylla and kraken from 3C BCE to the modern day. Told through writings from ancient myths, early scientific natural histories and iconic literature, tales are intertwined with wonderful engravings, diagrams and paintings. These accounts give a unique perspective on the histories of societies and cultures around the world, taking in significant events like the Age of Sail, the Enlightenment and Darwinian evolution.
With their excess size, claws, tentacles and bloodlust, monsters represent our greatest fears: the unknown, the dark, the natural world and even ourselves. As stories passed from generation to generation, they were analogues for dangerous weather events, foreign invaders, enemy nations, physical phenomena and real animals.
Prema Arasu brings together excerpts from Beowulf, Moby-Dick and many other works by authors such as Homer, HP Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, HG Wells… Each is brought to life with an introduction and beautifully gory artwork, making this a gorgeous book that's sure to draw you in and drag you down…
Date
Thursday 21 May 2026 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (UTC+08)Location
The Lane Bookshop
52C Old Theatre Lane, CLAREMONT WA 6010
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Prema Arasu introduces The Book of Sea Monsters
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