A few years ago, I did a tour with Jenn Hart, and we bonded
over our love for Gravity Falls, Martha (she’s
mostly bones) and radical left-wing politics. She has a new collection out with Burning Eye
Books, and I’ll repeat here what I said for the blurb: “Jenn hart’s poetry is like a ferret. It can be your best friend, or bite your face
off.”
Jenn’s said she wanted her collection to be called ‘Urgh Men’
in reference to Jenn’s dedication to feminism.
Jenn is one of the fieriest people you could meet when it comes to women’s
rights and representation. She’s written
highly important poetry in the form of Let Loose, Lucy and put
on great gigs and events in Bristol. So
Jenn’s crusade against sexism would make ‘Urgh Men’ a fitting title for this
collection.
But there is so much more to this collection than a
men-hating agenda (though don’t worry, there’s plenty of righteousness). Jenn’s poetry is defined by her own autobiographical
experiences, and not the outside influence of dickhead men.
Jenn’s collection is her most revealing assortment of
poems. It’s poetry that goes beyond the
surface and deep into Jenn’s history, world and personality. Few poets allow themselves to be so open and
human in this world of high-energy slam-style spoken word, stand-up gag poems
or easy Things Are Bad rhetoric. Jenn’s
collection is refreshingly…Jenn.
The collection is a series of landscapes which make up Jenn’s
world of women’s voices and experiences.
Adelaide Adams is a rolling
account of smells, tastes and places, from whiskey to Balham, from cough tonic
to the Pharmacy. You can feel the
sawdust in her hair. So too does Lydia Bennet’s Cottage, a character from
Pride & Prejudice, conjure beautiful and sad images of moth balls, chamber
pots, geraniums and the plum tree. There’s
a sweet melancholy to these poems, Life
At The Manor tells of Jenn’s dysfunctional family of housemates and when
that friendship starts to break down.
If Life At The Manor
is an sad account of the last year or two of Jenn’s life, 83A Gordon Avenue, Circa 2009 is a powerful anecdote of friendship,
a warm piece about adulthood. 04/07/2008 is the exact opposite, a cold
meeting between Jenn and a man who is right resigned firmly in her past.
Coral Roads is the
perfect end to the collect and a perfect summery: “I am terrified of being impressed with
someone else’s lifetime as they help me cross the road.” It’s here you realise all her pieces are
about friendship, from the fictional characters of her precious novels, to the
people in her past, the people in her present.
As a fellow punk poet, it’s easy to understand punk through
the male prism of John Cooper Clarke and Attila The Stockbroker. The easy rhymes, simple politics and
scattergun delivery. But here Jenn is proving that punk also means
being honest and open. Autobiographical. Raw.
This collection is a magnificent patchwork of people,
voices, places and emotions. Funnily
enough, it’s the smells, textures and tastes that really stand-out. When you read this book (ideally before bed
with a cup of camomile tea) you can breathe in this world, all neatly stacked
in 31 pages.
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