**WINNER OF THE COSTA POETRY AWARD 2018****SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST
COLLECTION**A war-poem both historic and frighteningly topical Assurances begins in the 1950s
during a period of vigilance and dread in the middle of the Cold War: the long stand-off
between nuclear powers where the only defence was the threat of mutually assured
destruction.Using a mix of versed and unversed passages Morgan places moments of calm
reflection alongside the tensions inherent in guarding against such a permanent threat. A work
of variations and possibilities we hear the thoughts of those involved who are trying to
understand and justify their roles. We examine the lives of civilians who are not aware of the
impending danger as well as those who are. We listen to the whirring minds of machines to the
voice of the bomb itself. We spy on enemy agents: always there always somewhere close at
hand.Assurances is an intimate dramatic work for many voices: lyrical anxious fragmentary
and terrifying a poem about the nuclear stalemate the deterrent that is still in place today:
how it works and how it might fail and what will vanish if it does.
