This collected edition commemorates the 10th anniversary of Julia Darling's death, and includes a substantial selection of unpublished work. Jackie Kay writes: "The poems are funny, irreverent, moving and never sentimental. You can recognise yourself in them, recognise your family. They are warm, full of compassion; [...] a shining bright light."
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[I am walking down a corridor / in the department / for the maintenance / of badly constructed / women HIGH MAINTENANCE]***
(@Arc_Poetry, 8 June 2015, e-book, 168 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I'm familiar with the poet through reading her poems in various anthologies over the years and also reading about her and her work in numerous literary magazines. I've never actually read a full collection. I enjoyed every poem on offer here, beautiful, vivid, rich and incredibly real, almost painful to read at times as some of them explore the breast cancer that would take her life. There's so much to enjoy here. The poems that deal with her illness come later in the collection and are more intense than the others. This collection shows how talented she was and how much has been lost.
