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.

Genres: Poetry

60 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2024

About the author

Rhian Elizabeth is a trainee counsellor and a writer. Her debut novel, Six Pounds Eight Ounces, was published in 2014 by Seren Books and is currently being adapted for TV, and there are the poetry collections the last polar bear on earth, published in 2018 by Parthian Books, and girls etc, by Broken Sleep Books, which won the Wales Book Of The Year Poetry Award and the Nation Cymru People's Choice Award 2025. Her prose and poetry has appeared in many magazines and anthologies worldwide and been listed in various competitions and prizes, recently being longlisted for the Plaza Poetry Prize and winning Verve Press’ poetry competition, as well as being featured on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme. She was named by the welsh agenda as one of Wales’ Rising Stars- one of 30 people working to make Wales better over the next 30 years. She is a Hay Festival Writer at Work and was previously Writer in Residence at the Coracle International Literary Festival in Tranås, Sweden. maybe i’ll call gillian anderson is her latest collection of poetry, published by Broken Sleep Books.

Reviews

[Tôpher Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully designed book, the cover is spot on and the contents more than match the production. Here we find mothers and daughters screaming their love at each other, abusive lesbian relationships, affairs of the heart and other things, and of girls both loving and hating, cruel and kind. Some of these poems are deeply disturbing and yet hilarious as well. The humour is often bitingly acute. The Taylor Swift poem is an absolute classic. Rhian Elizabeth is a staggeringly good poet, especially when she’s being bad!

[Gretel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvellous sophomore effort showcasing some truly commendable vulnerability. Highly recommended.

[Susie Bubbles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to say to the Author and any other mothers who identify with this book that you have the rest of your lives to make amends to your children, it doesn't have to stop when they leave home. I am more involved with my sons now than when they lived with me, and I am 72 !! I am almost guilt free 🤣