Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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Best of 2019: Poetry
Poets pinpoint the collections they have most enjoyed reading over the last year
Unafraid: Deborah Alma
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
Jane Burn
I ENJOYED the well-curated Valley Press Anthology of Prose Poetry and the distilled man is free by p.a. morbid (BLER Press) and it was good to see anthologies such as For the Silent (Indigo Dreams) tackling necessary themes.
Fran Lock’s Raptures and Captures (Culture Matters) stunned, as did Pippa Little’s intricate Twist (Arc). Aching truth spoke through Clare Shaw’s Flood (Bloodaxe), while Imtiaz Dharker’s beautifully illustrated Over the Moon (Bloodaxe) left a lasting impression, as did the sensual, unafraid and feminist voice of Deborah Alma in Dirty Laundry (Nine Arches).
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A pamphlet by British Latinx poet Patrick Romero McCafferty, poetry by Anglo-Argentinian Miguel Cullen, and a book of conjuring poems by Mexican Pedro Serrano
ALISTAIR FINDLAY welcomes a collection of essays from one of the cultural left’s most respected speakers and activists
LEO BOIX selects the best books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction written by Latinx and Latin American authors published this year