girls etc by Rhian Elizabeth

The language in Rhian Elizabeth’s poetry feels instinctual: the poems in girls etc pulse and ripple with energy, their rhythms are perfectly pitched. Elizabeth writes of personal experience with an intensity and sharpness that challenges you to look closely. girls etc showcases a defiance, alongside the beauty and vulnerability here, which resonates long after the last page is turned. Rhian Elizabeth brings a breath of fresh air to contemporary poetry.

Rhian Elizabeth was born in 1988 in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. She is a Hay Festival Writer at Work and Writer in Residence at the Coracle International Literary Festival in Tranås, Sweden. She is currently at night school studying to be a counsellor.

There is an ease to these poems which makes them feel like 'memorable speech' - they slip straight from the page as though spoken out loud.
   — Andrew McMillan

girls etc sings with heartbreak, dating rituals, love, loss and a Garden of Eden rewrite. This collection is a good friend — sometimes painfully honest, but mostly makes you feel “apple crumble warm”.
   — Hanan Issa, National Poet of Wales