My Honest Poem
By (Author) Jess Fiebig
Auckland University Press
Auckland University Press
13th August 2020
New Zealand
General
Non Fiction
Sexual abuse and harassment
821.92
Paperback
112
Width 148mm, Height 210mm
A moving account in poetry of one woman's pathway through violence and addiction. at six, my mother's boyfriend forced his fat hairy hand inside my heart-shaped face for eating too many Fruit Bursts we bought a tube of them at BP wrapped individually in pastel wax papers which littered the backseat like sweet-smelling confetti his hand tasted of salt a metallic tang of rust the hot edge of petrol from the pump still lingering on his fingers My Honest Poem is a moving and powerful poetry collection that follows recovery from a life fractured by family violence and addiction. It is a coming-of-age story of a young New Zealand woman rebuilding strength and hope in the spaces left by trauma. Author Jess Fiebig is a Christchurch-based poet whose work has featured in Best New Zealand Poems 2018, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2018 and 2019, Landfall, Turbine | Kapohau and takahe. She was runner-up in the 2019 Sarah Broom Poetry Prize.
These poems are undeniably personal and often deeply painful: childhood neglect, abuse, alcoholism, physical hurt, depression and self-harm are their subject matter. But through linguistic skill and sheer intelligence Fiebig crafts a lyrical beauty from unpromising material. You finish reading her work feeling uplifted by the writers courage and honesty. Fiona Farrell
Jess Fiebig is a Christchurch-based poet whose work has featured in Best New Zealand Poems 2018, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2018 and 2019, Landfall, Turbine, Kapohau and takah. She was runner-up in the 2019 Sarah Broom Poetry Prize.