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A review by jaclyn_sixminutesforme
The Girl Aquarium by Jen Campbell
5.0
I’ve been a big fan of Jen Campbell for a while, and when I saw her first full length poetry collection was being released I placed a pre-order immediately!
For those familiar with Jen’s work, you’ll find the imagery and whimsy of this collection a familiar comfort, while also delightfully pushing at the boundaries of your imagination. I loved the title poem and the dystopian strings it tugged at, but ultimately fell completely for the poems in the collection written in Geordie dialect. I actually read many of them aloud, surprising myself at how easily I slipped back into the accent! The Angel of the North was stunning, and having seen the giant sculpture of the same name guarding over the landscape, I loved the imagery Jen’s words evoked! Some of the images used across the collection included toes Morse coding grass, a “listening sea” and “lampshade mouths. Just stunning word combinations!
Having grown up not far from where Jen did, from a linguistics perspective this collection felt like a celebration of the English I grew up speaking. It was completely delightful and a joy to read, and I look forward to returning to it many times over.
For those familiar with Jen’s work, you’ll find the imagery and whimsy of this collection a familiar comfort, while also delightfully pushing at the boundaries of your imagination. I loved the title poem and the dystopian strings it tugged at, but ultimately fell completely for the poems in the collection written in Geordie dialect. I actually read many of them aloud, surprising myself at how easily I slipped back into the accent! The Angel of the North was stunning, and having seen the giant sculpture of the same name guarding over the landscape, I loved the imagery Jen’s words evoked! Some of the images used across the collection included toes Morse coding grass, a “listening sea” and “lampshade mouths. Just stunning word combinations!
Having grown up not far from where Jen did, from a linguistics perspective this collection felt like a celebration of the English I grew up speaking. It was completely delightful and a joy to read, and I look forward to returning to it many times over.