Kingsize

by Mette Moestrup

Poetry. Translated from the Danish by Mark Kline. For some time now Mette Moestrup, one of Scandinavia's most important contemporary writers, has been writing an edgy poetry about the body, about being a mother and a lover in Denmark. She is renowned for love verse as uninhibited as it is feminist, and her provocative, mischievous, sexy poetry also happens to be headily intellectual and full of references to anything and everything, from Batman to Rilke. Moestrup holds true to form with this wildly interwoven collection full of word play and formal avant-garde experiments, kitchensinkfuls of references, recurring themes of ethnicity and sexuality, war and violence, sustained motifs, mythical female figures on a sensation-seeking TV talk show. But all of this, and much more, with an unease, an edginess, a vulnerability as political controversies and racism repeatedly appear to question what at first seems playful. It is a work that delights then challenges the delight. KINGSIZE is Mette Moestrup's third and most acclaimed book. It won the Danish Montana Literature Prize for innovative writing.

Genres: Poetry

93 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Denne digtsamling af Mette Moestrup har bestemt humor, leg med formen samt en god portion politisk kritik af dem, som fortælleren kalder "xenofober". Jeg kan godt lide hendes såkaldte "talkshows", som er meget intertekstuelle men i en moderne version, og de er rigtig underholdende at læse.
Men så stopper min begejstring også dér. Jeg mangler en rød tråd og forståelse for, hvad der skal læses mellem linjerne og et kendskab til hendes enorme mængder af intertekstualitet. Jeg har på nuværende tidspunkt læst "Kingsize" og "Golden Delicious" af Mette Moestrup, og jeg må sige, at jeg ikke er videre imponeret. Hendes sprog og plot i digtene bliver for fluffy og diffust for mig.

[Eiliv lundal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Men..