Self-Romancing

by L. Scully

Poetry bursting with intimacy and giddy charm.

In a tonal mash-up of Jenny Holzer’s Truisms, confessional poetry, and fortune telling, Self-Romancing draws you into the amorous and obsessive inner life of an unnamed romantic. Relatable and snarky, heartfelt and horny, L. Scully fortifies irony with vulnerability, bringing readers into a narrative as intimate as slumber parties and ordinary as Trader Joe’s. Bursting with the giddy charm of the everyday, Self-Romancing plays with form, turning a book into a crush, a crank call, a manifesto.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

Published September 9, 2025

Reviews

[Jack Skelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Step 1: Read Self-Romancing. Step 2: follow L Scully’s Insta for their near-daily sonnets. Step 3: Get inspired to make your own. Writing can be a self-cringing, existential quest: “Is this any good? Will anyone read it? I can’t go on. I’ll go on.” But L is fearless, banging out declamatory affirmations drenched in emotion and quotidian mini-dramas: “The love I fell in yesterday will carry me through a lonely evening.” Or “You didn’t say the sex addiction thing was either hot or even a red flag and that made me feel like a person.” To clarify: Self-Romancing is not sonnets, but page-length paragraphs. Still, many of the lines would transplant well to sonnets. Maybe I’ll steal the ones I quoted. (from my mini review in XRAY Lit Mag): https://xraylitmag.com/?p=17996&p...

[Avery Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Self-Romancing is witty, intimate, and sharply self-aware. L. Scully blends confessional poetry with aphorism, humor, and cultural observation to capture the obsessive, tender, and often contradictory inner life of romance. The voice feels both playful and exposed, moving easily between irony and vulnerability without losing emotional sincerity.

What makes this collection stand out is its formal inventiveness and its attention to the everyday—turning ordinary moments into something charged, funny, and strangely profound. The poems feel like overheard thoughts, late-night messages, and private rituals, all held together by a distinctive and confident voice.

A compelling read for lovers of contemporary poetry that is bold, intimate, and emotionally intelligent.

[Saffron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't devoured a poetry collection so eagerly in years. In these poems, borne from a public affirmations practice, L Scully invites the reader to become curious about affirming themselves, too. These poems make me feel excited about loving myself and others. What a gift to the world. What a love letter to the contradictory truths in our humanities that every day we try to balance in our interactions with others and our inner dialogues. An illustrative snippet:

God I hate metaphor just say it like it is. If you are an allegory I am a fable. There is a precious lesson in entering my bed. (page 56)

[Amy Sihler]

Okay. Okay. Okay. Def appreciate poetry for the notes app era. Moment where I saw myself reflected in the nauseating waters of the internet word made print. Like reading through someone’s entire post breakup twitter feed. Sped right through it. Disgust and negation at every turn. No dogs on the tennis courts. Deny deny deny.

[Sam Beal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most fun I’ve had reading a collection of poetry in a while. If someone told me they didn’t like poetry I would give them this book.

[Morgan Thomas]

I don't know why I didn't expect to feel such longing and sentiment. But I'm glad I did. I was deeply moved by these poems. And found some of the lines funny and deeply absurd which I always enjoy.

[Lillian Heckler]

this was oddly specifically tailored to me but some lines really missed so i’m torn