Ghost Clinic

WINNER OF A 2024 ERIC GREGORY AWARD

Published By Broken Sleep Books, 2023

Ghost Clinic is a luminous inquiry into the ghosts that haunt and comfort us everyday. A delicately interconnected series of lyrical essays, this compelling debut performs a sly autopsy on our cultural moment. Drawing upon a kaleidoscope of voices from the humorous to the meditative, Ghost Clinic chronicles the myriad of spirits that stalk the waking world. From how to conjure ancient Japanese spirits, to a suburban fast-food chain permeated by the ghosts of pandemic victims, to a drug-addled sitcom star visited by the apparition of his former agent, these poems invite us to stop and consider what happens after the lights go out, the funding is cut, and the cameras stop rolling. 

PRAISE for Ghost Clinic:

“Written with a deep intelligence and a distinct angularity, this series of hallucinations highlights our obsession with the unreal, and the material nature of existence. Upon absorption, we as readers become transparent, translucent; ghosts not only of ourselves, but of the twisted humanity we find ourselves sleepwalking into.”

— Stuart McPherson, End Ceremonies 

”Both a haunting meditation on our cultural moment, and a luminous chronicle of the ghosts that stalk the waking world, Ghost Clinic marks the entrance of a significant new talent.”

   — Steve Mallon, Iced Lemon Water

“By turns unsettling, hilarious and gently absurd: folding in hauntings, surreal landscapes and early noughties sitcoms, a complete universe in just 40 pages.”

— Stefan Mohamed, Farewell Tour

“One of the best books I’ve read this year.”

— Wendy Allen, Plastic Tubed Little Bird

“King’s writing bears an almost Augustan affinity with exacting allusivity, pronunciamento and a wit that hits like exercise at great altitudes.”

— I.S Rowley, The Undeliverable

Nathaniel King’s writing is witty, assured and utterly convincing in its portrayal of the haunted self. A delight.”

— Gwyneth Lewis, Sparrow Tree

‘At both line level and overall poetic conceit, all the judges were bowed over by the quality of King’s Ghost Clinic.’

– Raymond Antrobus, The Perseverance

Radii

Published By Osmosis Press, 2024

Radii is an interdisciplinary exploration of the Surrey Hills landscape, weaving together poetics, geology, and local history. Funded by the Royal Holloway University of London’s Living Sustainably Catalyst, with support from Surrey Hills Arts, Osmosis Press, and the Royal Holloway Poetics Research Centre, this project delves into the rich tapestry of place and environmental heritage. Among its contributions is an extended poetic sequence Blueprints for Nectar by Nathaniel King, alongside works by Redell Olsen, Briony Hughes, Jonathan Paul, Stella Moss, Jade Hainsworth-Walsh, Gareth Hughes, Ramsey Tawfick, and Isabelle Masters, each offering a unique perspective on sustainability, culture, and the natural world. Limited print run. DM for copies.