Steven Poole
Encyclopedia
Biography
Poole studied English at Emmanuel College, CambridgeEmmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
, and has subsequently written for publications including The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, and the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
. He has published two books and currently writes a weekly nonfiction book-review column in the Saturday Guardian called Et Cetera, as well as regular longer book reviews, plus a monthly column in Edge magazine. Poole was invited to deliver the opening keynote address at the 2006 Sydney Writers' Festival
Sydney Writers' Festival
The Sydney Writers' Festival is an annual literary festival held in the Australian city of Sydney. The Festival's artistic director is Chip Rolley.-History:...
, and also gave a keynote at the 2008 Future and Reality of Gaming conference in Vienna.
Trigger Happy
Trigger HappyTrigger Happy (book)
Trigger Happy is a book by Steven Poole, examining videogames in terms of their aesthetic appeal - what makes certain games more fun to play than others...
was published in 2000 by 4th Estate in the UK (with the subtitle "The Inner Life of Videogames") and by Arcade Publishing
Arcade Publishing
Arcade Publishing is an independent trade publishing company that started in 1988 in New York, USA. They are publishers of American and world fiction and non-fiction...
in the US (with the subtitle "Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution"). It is an investigation of the aesthetics of videogames, that notes similarities and differences with other artforms such as cinema, painting and literature, and finally offers a description of games as semiotic systems that may provoke "aesthetic wonder". In 2007, Poole released a PDF version of the book for free download on his website, calling it an "experiment" in the tip-jar model for writers.
Unspeak
Unspeak was published in 2006 by Little, Brown in the UK, and by Grove PressGrove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
in the US. The second UK edition (2007) has the subtitle "Words Are Weapons". It is a book about language in contemporary politics, structured around buzzphrases such as "community", climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
/global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, and "war on terror". The book was shortlisted for Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
's T.R. Fyvel Award in 2006. According to the author, "unspeak" is related to framing
Framing (social sciences)
A frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation — that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, people build a series of mental filters through biological and cultural influences. They use these...
: it is a rhetorical way of naming an issue so as to avoid having to argue one's position, and to render the opposing position inexpressible. Unspeak received a hostile review in the Guardian from former British government communications chief Alastair Campbell
Alastair Campbell
Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994...
, who wrote: "I am not quite sure what Poole is trying to say." Since publication of the book, the author has continued to discuss new examples of Unspeak at the book's dedicated blog.
Journalism
Poole writes book reviews and literary and cultural essays for numerous publications, including a long obituary of Jean BaudrillardJean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism.-Life:...
for the Guardian,, and a critique of the work of Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton is a Swiss writer, television presenter, and entrepreneur, resident in the UK.His books and television programs discuss various contemporary subjects and themes in a philosophical style, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. In August 2008, he was a founding member...
.
Media
In 2004, Poole presented a television documentary for BBC FourBBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
called "Trigger Happy: The Invincible Rise of the Video Game", based on his book. He also appeared in the documentary Thumb Candy
Thumb Candy
Thumb Candy was a Channel 4 documentary about the history of computer games which was made by Talkback in 2000.It was hosted by Iain Lee who interviewed the people who were involved in creating the first big video games....
, and has guested on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
and other outlets in numerous discussions about language, including an appearance on the Today programme
Today programme
Today is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, now broadcast from 6.00 am to 9.00 am Monday to Friday, and 7.00 am to 9.00 am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks...
in 2009 talking about the term "swine flu".
Other activities
Poole is also a composer of music for documentary and short films, including the short film EVOLEVOL
Evol is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released in 1986 on SST Records, and recorded and mixed by New York recording icon Martin Bisi. The album cover features a picture of Lung Leg, a still taken from Submit to Me, a film by Richard Kern...
.