Imperfect

by Maria Stadnicka

‘Maria Stadnicka’s poetry is the most exciting I have read for some time. Her particular experience in Romania means that the political is not an option: she embraces it. Her work is on the frontline, also underscored by her background in journalism and broadcasting. But the genius of her poetry is to take the literal beyond itself into memorable and surreal flights of metaphor, while remaining firmly anchored at the same time. For English readers, her poetry is ‘other’; and I welcome that at a time when poetry needs to wake up to the contribution it can make at this time of transition and transparency. Our task as poets is to ‘see’: to divine a deeper reality. Her truth-gaze is unswerving.’ (Jay Ramsay, writer, editor, author of 'The Dangerous Book', Fitzrovia Press and 'Agistri Notebook', Knives, Forks and Spoons.)


‘The work reminds me of Charles Simic’s and also the gentler end of Vasko Popa’s work. There is the same clarity of images and voice with little metaphor or allusion. Instead a kind of surrealism is at work in the direction the narratives take, in the thought processes being evidenced with their jumps and asides, their sometimes surprising conclusions.’ (Rupert Loydell, 'Stride Magazine', 2017)

54 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2017

About the author

Maria Stadnicka is a writer, freelance journalist and researcher based in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. She is the author of 'Buried Gods Metal Prophets' (2021, Guillemot Press), 'Somnia' (2020, Knives, Forks and Spoons Press), 'The Geometric Kingdom' (with Rupert Loydell, 2020, Knives, Forks and Spoons Press), 'The Unmoving' (2018, Broken Sleep Books).

Further information about her work, current projects and collaborations on her website www.mariastadnicka.com.