Battenberg: A tragicomic collection of poems

by Theo Smaller

100 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2026

Reviews

[Kiran]

This collection of poetry was described as tragically comedic, and I can confirm those are absolutely the vibes throughout the collection.

The poems have what I can only describe, in the most endearing terms, as a dorky and funny sense of humour, mixed with tragically dark and, somehow, still funny poems. I absolutely devoured this and read it in an afternoon. I had such a fun time reading it, which isn’t something I normally associate with poetry, at least not with the other collections I’ve read. Most of them tend to be quite depressing, so this was a really nice change.

There were also some really lovely observations throughout that gave me things to think about as a reader, which I always appreciate. And the cover is absolutely beautiful, so it will look very pretty on my shelf.

This is definitely one I can see myself rereading when I’m feeling a bit crap about life. There are moments throughout that genuinely cheer you up, and I’m absolutely not opposed to that.

A great collection of poetry. The book also mentions that there are other collections to read, so I’ll eventually get around to those as well because I’m intrigued to see what else the author has written.

[Theo Smaller]

I wrote this book and it’s really good