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From the back cover of The Erotics of God published by Smokestack Books in 2005:
The title sequence of The Erotics of God is a series of meditations on the theology of desire and the value of eroticism. Sebastian Barker stands in the tradition which includes Patrick Kavanagh, Blake, Bernard of Clairvaux, Origen, and The Song of Songs. He considers the immanence in sexual love of the beautiful and the sublime, the mortal and the sacred. In the second part, 'Spirit of the River', he sets art and friendship, which draw us towards 'the crazy colours of the sun', against 'the termite men', who drive us towards 'the abyss'. The Erotics of God is a stunning and original collection, which combines Barker's distinctive lyricism and scholarship with common sense and wit. It completes his visionary trilogy, Damnatio Memoriae: Erased from Memory (Enitharmon, 2004) and The Matter of Europe Menard Press, 2005).
"The Erotics of God continues Sebastian Barker's immensely thought-provoking, perilous pilgrimage through Western Philosophy, with the great thinkers of the past as his mentors and the reality of temporal power as the enemy... always interesting, always someone to engage with, argue with and enjoy." David Perman in Sofia
"... an attractive simplicity of voice, limpid, musical... it's his compelling humanity which is revealed by... beautiful and moving poems." R.G. Felton in South
"... vastly engaging. The poems flow with 'songs of innocence' simplicity, while the Exegesis stands as rock. The poems become equal players in a dialogue about love and mystical ecstasy. I found the exchange between voices of ancient authority and that of new poems entrancing; ultimately enlightening and beautiful." Paul Sutherland in Dream Catcher
"This collection is quite staggering in beauty and power and bears much re-reading." Jai Clare in Bonfire Magazine
Book of the Year in The Tablet 2005
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