Outside the All-Stars

Jonathan Asser was born in 1964 and lives in Camden, North London. He facilitates experiential confrontation groups for non-compliant, violent prisoners and has published a paper on these groups in Psychodynamic Practice. He is also a psychodynamic counsellor in the NHS and a painter.

"Jonathan Assers says of his first collection: "I think the book is about men who don't have dads, and how that makes them violent, mad, lonely, criminal - as well as being an emotional challenge which they can rise above, wading through the shame and the wish to switch off by using their creativity, bravery, humour and their ability to be helped by others." "The world of Jonathan Asser exists in the corners and crannies of London's cafes, barbers, jails, take-aways, tower blocks and fleshpots. Like other poets who have come to the page via the stage, he has retained the bravura of performance within these mostly formal, pacy and filmic narratives. Sometimes voyeuristic, sometimes nihilistic, often very funny, it's hard to pin down the ingredients of influence in this tasty recipe." Roddy Lumsden"