A review by katie_greenwinginmymouth
Killing Kanoko / Wild Grass on the Riverbank by Hiromi Itō

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

 I don’t think I’ve ever read poetry quite so stark and challenging as this. The language is deliberately plain, bare bones and raw. Often very repetitive and kind of childlike or like an incantation. The poems are translated from the Japanese and the translator’s note is absolutely fascinating, it’s clear there were some huge challenges with translating these poems and it really adds to the reading experience understanding some of the techniques used.

One of Japan’s most renowned feminist writers, Itō focuses on themes of childbirth, motherhood, sex, postpartum depression and what it means to be a migrant. The poems are very challenging and don’t shy away from exploring the darkest recesses of human desires - she vocalises things society tells you a mother shouldn’t feel. There is a kind of dream logic to the poems, an excavation of the subconscious. Often the imagery is grotesque and deeply disturbing. In Wild Grass on the Riverbank there is a lot of natural imagery used to explore ideas of migration and why it means to be a ‘native species’. Nature is deeply uncanny in Itō’s poems though, vines take over and grow out of bodies and the long grasses hide other horrors. There are not many books that have crept under my skin like this one...