Whiny Baby

by Julie Paul

Chomping / champing / championing / churlish / … / There’s a wolf at the door / that looks exactly like me

Who is the “whiny baby” in this book? Rather than calling names or hurling insults, the candid poems in this collection most often implicate the poet herself.

Expansive in form and voice, the poems in Julie Paul’s second collection offer both love letters and laments. They take us to construction sites, meadows, waiting rooms, beaches, alleys, gardens, and frozen rivers, from Montreal to Hornby Island. They ask us to live in the moment, despite the moment. Including a spirited long poem that riffs on the fairy tale “Three Billy Goats Gruff,” these poems are like old friends that at once console and confess. They blow kisses, they remember, and they celebrate the broken and the lost alongside the beautiful.

At turns frank, peevish, introspective, and mischievous, the poems share sincere and intimate perspectives on the changing female body, our natural and built landscapes, and the idiosyncrasies of modern life. Whiny Baby calls on us to simultaneously examine and exult in our brief time on earth.

Genres: Poetry

126 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2024

About the author

I'm a writer in Victoria, BC, Canada. My second poetry collection, Whiny Baby, is now on shelves, Spring 2024, pub. by MQUP. I'm the author of three short story collections, Meteorites 2019 (Touchwood), The Pull of the Moon 2014 (Touchwood B & G), and The Jealousy Bone, 2008 (Emdash Publishing). My first collection of poetry, The Rules of the Kingdom, was published by MQUP in 2017. Work has appeared in the anthologies Coming Attractions 07 (Oberon Press) and Women Behaving Badly, as well as literary mags such as The Fiddlehead, Dalhousie Review, Geist and The Antigonish Review. A novel is underway, as well as more poetry and a book of essays. Check out my site for links to reviews and other news.http://www.juliepaul.ca Thanks for stopping by.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

She is a very good poet--and there are a few poems that I bookmarked and many great lines that I underlined--but I think this collection was too raw and scattered for my taste. I see her craft, I see her brilliance, but when there's a typo/grammar mistake left in because the poem was written on her phone and published unedited, then it takes me out. I see the intent, and I was able to receive it--I was pushed to live in the moment with her--but I much prefer reading more intentionally and meticulously crafted poems. I will defenitely read another book of hers, though! Since, this one focused heavily on raw, self-reflective, stream of consciousness poetry, I can't expect much else.

[Kathryn Mockler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excerpt from Whiny Baby in Send My Love to Anyone: https://sendmylovetoanyone.substack.c...