Astra and Sebastian

ASTRA AND SEBASTIAN is an epic adventure in the tradition of an ancient hero myth, but brought up to date by having two heroes, both a man and a woman, thus presenting the story from both perspectives and also showing how perceived earthly opposites are reconciled by the universe.Astra and Sebastian deals specifically with the change from child to adult but – as with any hero myth – this journey is applicable to any transitional moment in life. Hero myths throughout history articulate the symbolic journey of self discovery or individuation using archetypal motifs that we find in the unconscious. Cultures would build this psychological profile into their stories to aid the physical journey through life. Even today in a secular society, without help from any formal mythology, we undertake the journey of a hero unconsciously, every time we fall in love, face a crisis, or change, and any time we embark on a project.

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L. W. ILLSLEY, originally from Trewellard on the west cliffs of Cornwall, now lives in East London where he writes and performs music as well as writing poetry. An avid reader since a boy, it was through music that he first discovered writing. He began, aged sixteen, by writing lyrics on receipt rolls when he worked on a supermarket checkout in Cornwall. Seven years later, and in a London supermarket, he wrote the two thousand line draft of his first epic poem also on receipt rolls. His entry to the Proverse Prize is his second completed epic poem.