Pamper Me to Hell and Back is full of confessional, provocative and occasionally explicit poems, written in a conversational style with a bleak outlook on life. This is Hera Lindsay Bird’s second collection, and its sardonic tone reminded me of Sylvia Plath, with an undercurrent of Victoria Wood. Many of the poems are surreal, whilst some feel more like Facebook posts, and others seem designed to be performed as spoken word. Continue reading
Month: August 2018
Poetry Review: Blackbird, Bye Bye by Moniza Alvi
Blackbird, Bye Bye is centred around the theme of birds – the age-old symbol of grief and love. Some of the poems are so abstract that they feel almost entirely like creatures from another universe, while others feel more solid, earthed as they are in the physicality of trees, family, or culture. There is a lightness of touch, so that as a reader you sense a kind of ‘lift off’ from the first page, moving swiftly across oceans and lifetimes towards the final landing point. Continue reading
Book Review: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
A Guest Post written by Mary Le Bon
My Name is Lucy Barton is a beautiful book which tenderly describes the relationship between a young mother and her own mother whom she hasn’t seen for many years. The narrator is in hospital for a period of weeks and her mother arrives unexpectedly and sits at the foot of her bed for five long days, catnapping but steadfastly refusing the offer of a bed. The stilted and very realistic conversation between the two reveals Lucy’s impoverished and, at times, traumatic childhood as they share snippets of memories about people they have known and what has happened to them. Continue reading
Book Review: Driving Home Both Ways by Dylan Moore
Driving Home Both Ways is a detailed account of the author’s travels over a period of thirteen years, from the moment he set off from Brecon to Cardiff as a teenager. Exploring themes of identity, nationhood and community, he continually refers back to his Welsh roots, recounting trips to destinations across the globe – from the Basque Country to Slovenia, from Mexico to San Francisco… exploring some unique places along the way. Continue reading
Book Review: Captcha Thief by Rosie Claverton
I heard Rosie Claverton speaking about mental health in crime fiction at a recent literary festival, and was intrigued by her protagonist Amy Lane, who suffers from agoraphobia. I ended up reading Captcha Thief, which is actually the third book in this series, but it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the first two – I was hooked from the very first page. Continue reading