Caterwaul

by Jennifer Anne Champion

Caterwaul is a memoir — is scrapbook — is a wall of sound. Caterwaul chronicles the dramas of a poorly poet in circumstances beyond her control. Illustrated with visual snippets of the poet's childhood in Serangoon Gardens, Jennifer Anne Champion maps pain and desire across middle-class suburbia, in a contest to be heard against the poetry of the heartlands.

Genres: Poetry

71 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2016

About the author

Jennifer Anne Champion is a performance poet and the author of A History of Clocks (2015) and Caterwaul (forthcoming). She has been described by The Straits Times as “a homegrown poet” and by Juice Magazine (Singapore) as gifted with “swift, animated style”. She has performed her work in Edinburgh, Scotland and extensively in the Singapore spoken word scene. Her poetry has been anthologized in A Luxury We Cannot Afford and SingPoWriMo (Math Paper Press, 2014) and featured in digital repositories Musicity (London) and Text In The City (The Arts House, Singapore). Her curatorial essays have been published by Primo Marella Gallery (Italy) and Primae Noctis Art Gallery (Switzerland). Her articles have also been published in Esquire (Singapore). When not writing, Jennifer performs improvised comedy with The Improv Company and Hadouken.

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have yet to collect my feelings about this collection. My experience and reflection on this work has been less straightforward than most other works I've read. Champion is adept at presenting her stories through a complex yet unified voice, but the content and use of form in Caterwaul seem disparate and loose. Looking forward to revisiting these poems.

[Review 1 - 05/05/17.]

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

the poem "A is for Epal" stands out far above the rest, i would give that five stars

[PATRICK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caterwaul is a memoir, a wall of sound....

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

i am sorry

[jiawen · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 reread: reread this for ✨ research purposes ✨

still got allll the feels, but it's nice to see that i'm better able to appreciate lit & poetry as a whole as compared to 4 years ago when i read this for the first time