Strip by Angela Readman
Sugar and Spice and All things nice? Is that what little girls are made of? Magazines, lippy and a push-up bra? Porn star, sex symbol, victim or whore? What does it mean to be a woman in the 21st century? Are we born girls? Or are we the products of what has gone before? Strip reveals the lives of 50's pin-up Bettie Page, hardcore porn stars and the little girl left behind on the way with stunning beauty and poignancy. The poet is not afraid to go beyond the boundaries of taste, and ask what lies beneath images we both admire and demonise. The strong voice of these sensitive and powerful narratives manages to find a sad beauty within lives. These cinematic poems are political in the most subtle sense as they explore the intimacy of power relations, gender, and unpick notions of glamour to find the tale behind the glossy centrefold. The work is a tapestry of how femininity is created, culturally and individually, exposing how the girl on stage stitches together her personae, and then strips her down layer by layer. Poems that refuse to shy away from the dark, the grotesque and the taboo, but lead us, through an interplay of beautifully crafted, sensuous language, striking visuals, voice and often devastating observation to bring us face to face with the 'other' in ourselves. The true shock in these haunting narratives is that these lives speak to all of us about family, sex, power and love.must be obvious that I loved this collection of poetryIt is one of the most exciting collections I have read in recent years. Strip goes straight to the core, very little metaphor, just very stark images that explore society and the experience of girls and woman within it. The language and imagery is cutting, beautiful and sad. I felt as though I was breathing with these narrators, experiencing the small detail of their lives.
-- Annie Clarkson * Stride Magazine *
Angela Readman has worked as a cleaner, a painter, a copywriter for radio, an editor, and lectured at The University of Northubria. She won the Biscuit poetry competition in 2004, and has been published by Diamond Twig, Iron Press, Biscuit. Her work has had work translated into Finnish by Ek Zuban. She currently lives in Newcastle.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781844713035 |
| ISBN 10 | 1844713032 |
| Title | Strip |
| Author | Angela Readman |
| Series | Salt Modern Poets |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Salt Publishing |
| Year published | 2014-07-30 |
| Number of pages | 80 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |