Flamingo

“Flamingo contains 31 poems of extraordinary bravery, variety and skill. Bevis’s wit and inventiveness shine through, even when dealing with painful subjects… Bevis often employs the surreal to give us refreshing and new perspectives on serious societal problems… Flamingo concludes with a sequence of poems that demonstrate Bevis’s bravery, both in the content matter (a cancer diagnosis) and in the imaginative use of metaphor and imagery. The poetry is very moving without ever being maudlin… A stunning and original pamphlet… inspiring, impressive and wonderful.”

“For some reason, I read the title poem, the final one in Kathryn Bevis’ debut pamphlet, first, then went backwards from there. It was an exhilarating, hypnotic experience. The last few poems especially are shot through not only with astonishing affirmations of life, love and beauty in the face of a cancer diagnosis, but just as notably a fantastic surreal humour and imaginative flight that makes the heart dance and the spirit soar… This is poetry of the first order.”

“The ever-shifting identities in Flamingo make for a poetry that accepts change as a constant, addressing the darkest of subject matter with great compassion and even hope.”

“Accessible, engaging, and intelligent, with rich seams of heart and humour… Bevis is her own original voice… she is amazingly imaginative, with a pen that’s fine yet full of flair, resulting in poems that are lively, clever, compelling, and often quite surprising… Bevis is a fearless writer, tackling some big, spiky subjects, yet writing with wit, skill, and ease.”

“If a poetry collection could ever be a box of fireworks, it would be this one.  From the first stanza, where Wonder Woman’s breasts are described as ‘twin spaniels off the leash’ we know we’re in for a high-stakes, high energy ride in this extraordinary collection. The description of cancer as a ring-tailed lemur is just one example of the way Bevis always sidesteps expectations to create poetry that is moving, transformative and always surprising.”

“These are poems of brilliant ideas and even better execution. The pages sing in a range of voices, giving us the thoughts of superheroes and union representatives, dolls and starlings…  At their heart, they express what nothing can like poetry – empathy and love – and their feelings… make us glad to be human. By the end of the collection… I was in floods of tears, and convinced that this is the most accomplished and emotionally significant group of new poems I have read in a very long time. The pamphlet reminds us why poetry is so important, and will be clutched to the hearts of all of us who are lucky to read it.”

“This pamphlet is a delight – vibrant and fresh. Each of its poems, from the tenderest honeymoon address to the bold, inventive voices of its heroines, zings with vivacity and defiance. Never shying away from what is hard or painful, these poems keep rebellion as their lodestar, conjuring an energy which shines with wit and compassion.”

“Kathryn Bevis writes visceral, moving, sharp-eyed and formally adventurous poetry, often focussed on the embodied experience of women’s lives. But despite the quick wit, bite and sting of these poems – Bevis clearly couldn’t be paid to write a dull line – the deeper impression is of a poet of real wisdom, compassion and fearlessness, with an almost old-school faith in poetry as way of shedding light, of making sense of the most senseless aspects of the world. Only a writer of considerable gifts could repeat the trick so consistently.”