Josephine Corcoran's inventive and unflinching debut poetry collection asks us to consider what it is we are really here for. Bold and unsentimental, her remarkable poems trace the lifelines of where we've been and where we're going, and are not afraid to ask difficult questions of where we are now. Corcoran's dexterity allows her to get under the skin of each poem, and to explore other lives with the same attentiveness and concision she brings to her own experiences. What Are You After? is also fearlessly personal and political; these resolute poems celebrate outspoken women and working class lives, and refuse to look away from the harsh realities of austerity and poverty. Throughout, the texture of history, of long gone places and lost voices, is discernible just beneath the surface of the everyday present like a mirror's delicate silvering. Haunting and tender, these poems are a rare gift; generous, incisive and real.
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I wouldn't call it a honeymoon, those muffled nights in mothball rooms. HONEYMOON
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(@NineArchesPress, 25 July 2018, ebook, 60 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs)
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This is the poet's debut. I decided to read it because I liked the title and cover and have really enjoyed other collections from the publisher. These are three good reasons to give a new poet a chance. This is an impressive debut and I look forward to reading the poet's next work. The poems touch on universal subjects such as love, family, life, self-image, marriage and social class, themes poet's including myself return to again and again. I was on familiar ground here, well-worn comfortable territory. The poems are rich, well written and evocative. I thoroughly enjoyed them and will likely check out the poet's blog at some point.
