Papers

by Hollie McNish

Hollie McNish's poetry moves with the rhythms, the excitements and disappointments of contemporary life. Deeply committed to the idea of language as a tool of self-expression and communication, her poems are accessible but crackling with a passion and wit all her own.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism

73 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Danie Cutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

HM is fantastic, brutally honest, clever and not scared to tackle those misconceptions that need to be torn down. And she can write. Buy it, read it, better still see her live!

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A blast from the past 😀

It was lovely to revisit some of the first poems I heard from Hollie McNish, and to find several that were new to me.

Having read her new release Virgin recently, I decided to go back and read all her books.

Papers did not disappoint and I'm excited for Cherry Pie next.

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry with good points that pack a punch, and there is some good writing and lines here.
I also found that even though the points are well-founded and important sometimes they're not that subtlety implemented, and quite a few relies on a lot of repetition.
Some of them have a a good sense of originality from a wise, unique view point and can be enjoyed for there powerful, and sometimes even humorous contents.

[yenni m · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read out loud in a hot bath is the sweetest thing.

[Ellie McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hollie has made hard-hitting topics into easy to read, enjoyable verse. That takes skill.

[Melissa Sarikaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

great start for a writer who writes terrific poetry!

[Eris Varga · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

Very lyrical and evocative at points.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a re-read and I didn't enjoy it as much this time. McNish isn't scared to tackle political topics such as racism, sexual violence and censorship and I admire her for that. I first came across her work when I saw a video of her reading a poem about breastfeeding and her poetry is certainly better when performed. However, she doesn't really speak to me; she is far more absorbed in contemporary culture than I am (I don't even have a telly!) and her feminist topics would be more relevant to someone younger - fortunately, sleepless nights and breastfeeding are now a thing of distant memory. There's something quite domesticated about her writing, which I can't relate to, and which makes it all seem too mundane for my liking.

[H]

There are some really great poems in here, but the collection on the whole just didn't land well for me. Her poems provide insightful and interesting points of view, but I often found them difficult to connect with.

[Graham Tennyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful.