Others: Mixed "In this debut collection, Halsey bares her soul. Bringing the same artistry found in her lyrics, Halsey's poems delve into the highs and lows of doomed relationships, family ties, sexuality, and mental illness. More hand grenades than confessions, these autobiographical poems explore and dismantle conventional notions of what it means to be a feminist in search of power." -- Amazon.com. "Grammy Award-nominated, platinum-selling musician Halsey is heralded as one of the most compelling voices of her generation. In I Would Leave Me If I Could, she reveals never-before-seen poetry of longing, love, and the nuances of bipolar disorder"--
Lists: …
Lana Del Rey
2020 · 128 pages · 1 review
Others: MixedViolet Bent Backwards over the Grass is the debut book by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. A poetry collection featuring over thirty original poems and photography,[2] including "13 longer poems" and several short pieces, the collection is Del Rey's first published work and was released by Simon & Schuster on September 29, 2020.[1]
What made the match, strongest first
Mosab Abu Toha
2024 · 96 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveA candid, horrific, and deeply touching new collection of poems about life in Gaza by an award-winning Palestinian poet.Barely thirty years old, Mosab Abu Toha was already a well-known poet when the current siege of Gaza began. After the Israeli army bombed and destroyed his house, pulverizing a library he had painstakingly built for community use, he and his family fled for their safety. Not for the first time in their lives. Somehow, amid the chaos, Abu Toha kept writing poems. These are those poems. Uncannily clear, direct, and beautifully tuned, they form one of the most astonishing works of art wrested from wartime. Here are directives for what to do in an air raid; here are lyrics about the poet’s wife, singing to his children to distract them. Huddled in the dark, Toha remembers his grandfather’s oranges, his daughter’s joy in eating them. Moving between glimpses of life in relative peacetime and absurdist poems about surviving in a barely livable occupation, Forest of Noise invites a wide audience into an experience that defies the imagination—even as it is watched live. Abu Toha's poems introduce readers to his extended family, some of them no longer with us. This is an urgent, extraordinary, and arrestingly whimsical book. Searing and beautiful, it brings us indelible art in a time of terrible suffering.
What made the match, strongest first
Kit Fan
2023 · 1 review
Others: MixedIn his disquieting third collection The Ink Cloud Reader, Kit Fan takes enormous risks linguistically, formally and visually to process the news of a sudden illness and the threat of mortality, set against the larger chaos of his beloved city Hong Kong and our broken planet. These shape-shifting poems are sensitive to anxiety and to beauty, questioning the turbulent climate of our time while celebrating the power of ink – of reading and writing.
What made the match, strongest first
Rudy Francisco
2017 · 104 pages · 2 reviews
Others: PositiveHelium is the debut poetry collection by internet phenom Rudy Francisco, whose work has defined poetry for a generation of new readers. Rudy's poems and quotes have been viewed and shared millions of times as he has traveled the country and the world performing for sell-out crowds. Helium is filled with work that is simultaneously personal and political, blending love poems, self-reflection, and biting cultural critique on class, race and gender into an unforgettable whole. Ultimately, Rudy's work rises above the chaos to offer a fresh and positive perspective of shared humanity and beauty -- Provided by publisher.
What made the match, strongest first
Yrsa Daley-Ward
2014 · 151 pages · 1 review
Others: Positive"From the celebrated poet Yrsa Daley-Ward, a poignant collection of autobiographical poems about the heart, life, and the inner self. Bone. Visceral. Close to. Stark. The poems in Yrsa Daley-Ward's collection bone are exactly that: reflections on a particular life honed to their essence--so clear and pared-down, they become universal. From navigating the oft competing worlds of religion and desire, to balancing society's expectations with the raw experience of being a woman in the world; from detailing the experiences of growing up as a first generation black British woman, to working through situations of dependence and abuse; from finding solace in the echoing caverns of depression and loss, to exploring the vulnerability and redemption in falling in love, each of the raw and immediate poems in Daley-Ward's bone resonate to the core of what it means to be human."--
What made the match, strongest first
A.E. Housman
1896 · 95 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveFirst published in 1896, this is Housman's first and most widely known collection of poems. Dismal and fatalistic, Housman speaks of the cruelty of life. In contrast to the dreary subject matter, the poetry itself is brisk and lively. Considered by many to be among the finest works of modern British poetry.
What made the match, strongest first
MixedI think it's an interesting concept and of course we shouldn't take everything completely literally but this is just silly --y'know, an existential crisis on day one on this earth is kind of ridiculous when you probably couldn't even do up your own rain jacket until you were six, and I just think that style of 'fake deep poetry' really detracts from the other poems in this collection which are actually quite good.
