"Lip" by Catherine Smith (Smith/Doorstep, 2007)

"Losing It To David Cassidy", "The Fathers" and "Brother" are alright, but many of the other poems, especially at the start, are plain. "Request", "Twin", "The World Is Ending Pass The Vodka" etc go on too long about topics I think I've heard about before. I still don't get her theory of line/stanza-breaks. She was a New Gen poet. Perhaps she's targetted at a different type of audience than I'm used to. Perhaps I'm ab-reacting to the blurb - "remarkable", "disturbing", "unique".

Other reviews

• Hope Estella Whitmore (The Glasgow Review) - "My mind was absolutely blown by this illicit, explicit, compelling collection of poetry"
• Emma Lee
• Rowena Knight (The Bubble) - "It is the range of her work which I most admire"
• Kay Green - "I’m a story lover who sometimes reads poetry so perhaps subject matter and ideas impress me more than fancy words do"

"The Butcher's Hands" by Catherine Smith (Smith/Doorstep, 2003)

Format Frequency 2 line stanzas 7 3 line stanzas 19 4 line stanzas 3 5 line stanzas 3 6 line stanzas 1

Format Frequency 7 line stanzas 1 13 line stanzas 1 1 stanza 7 Misc 8

Nearly liked "Resurrection". That's it. Her use of line-breaks is beyond my understanding. "Intense ... astonishing ... startling ... original" - well, read it yourself and decide. But don't say I didn't warn you.