The Bella Vista: Poems

by Emma Ruth Rundle

If art can be an inheritance, acclaimed singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle's life has been rich with from her grandfather, a renowned actor, and her father, a contemporary pianist. Her debut poetry collection, The Bella Vista, is inspired by the piano works of Harold Budd on the album La Bella Vista, and childhood memories of her father’s own improvised piano reveries in their LA apartment. 


For twenty years, Emma has pursued music as her primary medium, evoking dreamy abstraction, exploring textural maximalism, and embracing her own vulnerability with a guitar, a piano, and the sound of her voice. With The Bella Vista, she turns to language as the best and perhaps only tool suitable to express, in her words, “the tenderness and brutality of romantic love.” Written on the road and in the air between tour locations, the chronological, self-referential poems of The Bella Vista follows a relationship from its enthralling genesis through its twisted convulsions and the devastation of its dissolution then, eventually, to a sort of peace. The collection is a concept album, an addiction memoir, a family tree, and a love letter all at once—to music, to mistakes, to womanhood; to cross-country drives and other artists and the long road to finding oneself.

Genres: Poetry

110 pages, Hardcover

Published February 11, 2025

Reviews

[Justin Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t read much poetry, so I’m definitely not qualified to say what’s “good”, only what I felt an emotional impact from. I’m a big fan of Emma’s music, so I decided to grab a copy of this book.

The book is described as a year of poems, and if they’re presented in chronological order that makes a lot of sense. The first quarter of the book felt a bit awkward, like someone slowly trying to get their footing in unknown territory. I didn’t feel much as I read it. But the poems feel more elegant as the book progresses — they’re better at putting a familiar thought into new words.

Like her music, the best poems here are a gut punch of tragic beauty. There are several standouts from the midpoint on, but the last one is the best one, in my opinion.

I had wondered briefly when I saw the book announced if the title was a reference to an album by one of my favorite ambient composers, and it was a pleasant surprise to see that confirmed at the end. Harold Budd’s La Bella Vista is a fitting soundtrack for these poems.

[Robnrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly beyond moved. This may well now be my favourite poetry book I have ever read. The ebbs and flows of intense love and its ultimate painful demise, made for some harrowing, yet staggeringly beautiful work.

I have for the longest time been a lover of Emma Ruth Rundle’s music. It has been a constant soundtrack in my life for over a decade now. I would hope she continues to balance her music, her art and hopefully is inspired to do more books in the future. I have a feeling I will hang on her every word.

The fact that it was gifted to me by my daughter for Xmas ‘25, and beautifully inscribed by her, makes this book amongst the most special items I have ever owned. I will always treasure it.

[Rashmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you https://www.netgalley.com/ and Emma Ruth Rundle for the ARC.

Struggled a bit to connnect at the begining. More or less some poems were relatable to certain extent.

[brian annan · Rating 5 out of 5]

full of beauty and heartbreaking emotion.
every word rings clear and true.
Emma Rundle has crafted, nah… unleashed a book of poetics that is the rival or equal to the best pomes you’ve never read.
get this book. it will cleanse your soul.

[Stella Marchione · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully and emotional collection of poetry. It feels like each one tells a story I can see myself in. Beautiful!

[doghouse reilly’s girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, The Unnamed Press, and Emma Ruth Rundle for an ARC in exchange for a honest review!

I have been a fan of Emma Ruth Rundle's for just under three years now. Her music has been the soundtrack to so many moments in my life, a voice that reaches back beyond time and space. Every time I take off in a plane, May Our Chambers Be Full must be playing—an almost superstitious ritual, as if the chords themselves might hold the aircraft aloft. I’ve often likened myself to Pavlov’s dog in my reaction to many of her songs (especially Heaven and Killing Floor). I even own a first edition of her previous art book, Dowsing Voice—a prized possession that holds a place of honor on my nightstand.

When she announced this collection of poetry, I waited with bated breath. Seeing it appear as an ARC in the middle of the night a few weeks ago was like glimpsing Gatsby’s green light on the far-off shore—distant, shimmering, not quite real. I was ecstatic. And yet, to be fair, this is not an easy book. Not because it is poorly done—far from it—but because it demands something of you. It is the kind of work that must be sat with, turned over, read and re-read, its weight felt in full. Rundle has always had a gift for words (see: her entire discography), but here, stripped of melody, her poetry stands alone—stark, haunted, and utterly arresting.

This is not a collection to be rushed through, nor one to be read lightly. It lingers, much like her music—shadowed, raw, beautiful, haunting. Some lines cut deep; others unravel slowly, revealing their weight over time. It is not always a comfortable read, but then again, the most honest things rarely are. What Emma Ruth Rundle has given us is not just a book of poetry but a kind of reckoning, a quiet exhale in the dark. And like all things she creates, it demands to be felt.

It's been such a joy to see this project come to fruition. I, again, wait with bated breath for the next creative move (whether that is with art, music, or writing) from the one and only Emma Ruth Rundle.

[Pam a Lamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

I found The Bella Vista to be relatively enjoyable, but not a collection of poetry I expect to return to often. It charts a personal and emotional journey through the wreckage of love, memory, and nostalgia. However, I struggle to pull my favourite poems from the book because, truthfully, whole poems didn't resonate with me and often weren't consistently strong enough, from start to finish, for me to attach to a single one.

For my tastes, Rundle veers too often into the confessional, quasi-deep, second-person drama and confusion of Instagram poetry. It detracts from the parts of her writing that I prefer. I realize this style is very popular among most readers. Selfishly, I wish she wouldn't go there. When she avoids that style, as in the poem Paloma, I think that her writing shines, with strong language that evokes visceral and unique images. Those moments, when Rundle allows herself to settle into a style that feels all her own, are really what have stuck with me after reading. For example, the book's opening is, in my opinion, truly beautiful:

rip up this book, my love / i wrote it for you / so that / crumpled pages of refuse worthy / thinking might lift from the floor and bloom peony and chrysanthemum / rightfully placed upon your shoulders. words and thoughts aren’t enough. / they aren’t even close to right. / i wish i’d never known any language at all other than the giving of simple gifts.

I was also struck by the image of dwindling love as a series of Matryoshkas jewels, each one smaller and less sparkling than the last. I wish Rundle had let herself sit with and explore these beautiful thoughts for longer.

Thank you to Unnamed Press and Netgalley for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.

[Alex Meves · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you look at the average book, what are some of the characteristics? The book has words, not pictures. The text is divided into paragraphs. Dialogue has quotes (U.S. English style at least). There are usually chapters. Now if someone were to break these norms and constraints, we would assume they've tried the default first. They have a reason for breaking the rules and they know why they are there. It would be silly for a person to give up on the average book format for no reason and without trying it first.

For some reason, the opposite is true of poetry. Poetry is thought to be completely free-wheeling and I don't understand why. It seems that first time poets (published in this case - if you consider Emma Ruth Rundle's lyrics as poetry that's completely valid) believe the default of poetry is free-verse and they are correct in terms of the contemporary choice. But there is real real real real value in the poetic constraints of form (e.g. stanzas), rhyme, and meter. When you forgo these without understanding them, you run an enormous risk of devaluing the deliberation of your words. You could've chosen any word to put there, so your choice seems arbitrary. Of course, it may not be....but maybe the feeling of it being less deliberate to the reader is enough? When you pass up triplets or quatrains to draw an ASCII sailboat, it feels like a gimmick. When you leave rhyme to black out a phrase and say "REDACTED" it seems egotistical.

I can really feel Rundle's experience with words here, but they are so often undermined by attempting to recreate what's on the contemporary poetry shelf today. It is disappointing because I know it could've been so much better.

[Chloe Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

“mommy would laugh so hard until something in her would twist out a She-Saturn, ready to devour”

I am a huge fan of Emma Ruth Rundle’s music, so when a friend of mine brought her upcoming poetry book to my attention, I was pleasantly surprised to find it available for request on NetGalley. So close to publication, I honestly expected a denial, but was blessed to be accepted today and well, safe to say I consumed this book rather quickly, and am left with mixed feelings regarding the taste.

Poetry is always tricky to review, and I do not envy poets in awaiting feedback on their works, because poetry is such a deeply personal genre that relies quite heavily on relatability and understanding. The lyricist in her really shows its face in this collection, but sadly the first half felt a bit slow and did not resonate with me personally.

However, the second half is where it really picked up, and I began to find myself in her words. Having gone through a breakup myself a few months ago, it is the first time a poet has truly captured how I felt about it, and in some ways how I still feel.

So, for that, I decided on 3 stars, which is my go-to rating for a mixed bag such as this. When it shined, it truly shined, and that tended to be when Emma deviated from the (for lack of a better description) Tumblr-style poetry.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advanced copy, and thank you to Emma Ruth Rundle for being a bountiful source of wonder to me. You have a forever fan in me!

[Brice Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and The Unnamed Press for the ARC!

Emma Ruth Rundle’s The Bella Vista is a brief and unmemorable collection of poems that highlights how the artistry of songwriting doesn’t necessarily transfer to other forms.

Poetry is subjective, but I think the marker of a good poem is that it feels inevitable—like it could only exist as a poem. At the same time, it shouldn’t feel laborious or self-conscious. Unfortunately, the poems that comprise The Bella Vista feel obligated to be poems, not because that is their purest form, but because they are mostly concerned with sounding like poems. As such, the weight of the constantly heavy subject matter feels performative.

There are some great poets who inform and shape their work with nihilism, but I don’t know that nihilism ever works as an interesting aesthetic.

That said, Rundle seems most concerned with aesthetic, so the book is at its best when it is visual.

The photography feels more distinctive than the poetry—the chiaroscuro that lends dimension to the imagery is absent in the writing itself, which often rests limply on the page. Rundle's photos have a wonderful, dynamic clutter to them, and I wish their texture could be felt within the written word.

Ultimately, this is probably a skip for most readers, and I encourage people to listen to Rundle's music instead.

[Iara Moure · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Bella Vista" es una colección que explora las emociones complejas relacionadas con el amor, tejiendo escenas inquietantes y nostálgicas a lo largo de sus páginas. Aunque no resonó conmigo personalmente—demasiado de esa estética de Tumblr y nostalgia—tiene algunos poemas destacados como "Paloma" y "Goodbye Horses."

Me pareció especialmente interesante la imaginería relacionada con el espacio lineal y las drogas; esos elementos añadieron profundidad e intriga a la colección. Creo que este libro podría atraer a lectores que disfrutan del estilo de Rupi Kaur, ya que comparte un paisaje emocional y una calidad visual similar. Si te gusta la poesía que evoca una estética específica y captura las sutilezas del dolor del amor, esto podría ser para vos.

[Isla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The bella vista is a poetry collection that depicts the pains and strains of love. Each poem creates a scene that is eery and mournful. This is amplified by the images that accompany the poems.

I am very fussy when it comes to poetry and I do not think this collection was for me. It gave the tumblr aesthetic and nostalgia factor that I don’t love in poetry, but had a few stand out poems like ‘paloma’ and ‘Goodbye horses.’

I enjoyed the depictions of lineal space and drugs, thought these were the most interesting aspects of imagery within the poetry.

I would recommend this to readers who are fans of Rupi Kaur.

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC of this book.

[Stephanie Stoneback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nominated for IndieNext!

As a fan of her work as a musician and lyricist, I was elated to hear about Emma Ruth Rundle's debut collection of poetry. Raw and evocative, the poems in these pages capture the duality of romantic love, of giving yourself wholly to another: comfort and pain, belonging and loss, yearning and loathing. The poems are grounded with film photographs that orient us to Rundle's physical and mental space as she wrote these words. Full of biblical imagery and honest musings, Rundle's debut collection speaks to the poetry aficionado and the novice alike.

A little Tumblr-y at times, but can’t deny it spoke to me!

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bella Visa was quite an unexpected surprise. Some poems were so close to what I lived through and felt that it was as if they had been written for me.
Emma Ruth Rundle has a writing style both simple and poetical, keeping close to reality while unveiling the complexity behind our social selves and relationships.
Some poems in the collection were reminiscent of Beat poets, in her chosen topics and angles in which she perceived the outside world.
The pictures were an interesting choice, and I really enjoyed the ways in which she played with space.

[Emily | bookwhispererem · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝐄𝐦𝐦𝐚 𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈’𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐸𝓂𝓂𝒶 𝑅𝓊𝓉𝒽 𝑅𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒, 𝒰𝓃𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit, I was afraid to read this. I love ERR's music very much, but sometimes singers who move into poetry struggle with the transition (she even mentions this in one of the poems in this book). Thankfully (is that even the right word to use for enjoying someone else's pain???), her words were as beautiful, raw, and insightful as her music. Poetry points to a place beyond words, and ERR manages to do that here.

[Syd James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was moved by the subjects that run parallel in my own life: love, heartbreak, addiction, depression, womanhood. ERR detailed these accounts in a raw, beautiful yet painful way that resulted in me staring blankly through the wall after finishing pages that hit so close to home. I am a big fan of her music and lyricism, and was just as impressed by her poetry. I wish to give her a hug and tell her that I understand, while also thanking her for being so vulnerable.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks for the ARC

I enjoyed some of the poems, but I thought it started out a bit slower-- some of the poems relied a bit too heavily on religious metaphor but didn't elaborate on them. But some were really good. In particular I liked "Baci (pg 33)": "Art will require sacrifices/ you really can't/ imagine/ when you first/ pick up her tools/ and summon the unseen."

[Mia Caven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off slightly weak for me and got stronger in the second half

[Kevin Krein · Rating 4 out of 5]

some of these phrase turns are going to haunt me for a long, long time.

[adrienne 🧚🏻‍♂️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

what can’t she do?

[Mathieu Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pas beaucoup de chanteurs/chanteuses à succès savent comment allier la transition vers la poésie, mais ici, la chanteuse Emma Ruth Rundle a selon moi réussit son pari. Tout au long de ce recueil, elle installe une sorte de continuité dans ses poèmes, délivrant un message mélancolique et pourtant puissant, tant par le rythme que les sonorités. De par ses expériences de tournées, elle fait hommage également aux poètes et auteurs de la beat generation, en incluant sa perspective à elle du monde extérieur et un vouloir de réconfort et de douceur dans un monde proche de la destruction. On sent tout au long que ces poèmes qu’ils sont des sortes de cris dans l’abîme. Malgré un certain espacement dans le rythme et l’ambition de l’œuvre, Emma Ruth Rundle démontre encore pourquoi elle est une voix majeure du neo-folk américain et une voix de premier plan pour exprimer la mélancolie, la complexité de nos relations sociales et la solitude.

[Kristiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bella Vista is an interesting collection which captures a moment in time. It is cohesively structured with the black and white photographs transporting then grounding the reader in the speaker's time and place.

Rundle's work is enjoyable to read but not very memorable - it wasn't a collection I found my thoughts lingering upon after reading.

[Chelsea]

emo & good but sometimes went over my head