Accident Dancing

by Keaton Henson

Accident Dancing is a book of poetry, detailing Keaton's life in fragments, from the chaotic to the mundane. accompanied by evocative illustrations, it is an intimate and unapologetically personal journey through a life the way we remember them, as Keaton puts it "chaotic, fragmented and often grammatically incorrect".

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[edit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idiot Verse was poetic and beautiful.
Accident Dancing is raw and honest.
A rare insight.

[Liv Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw and introspective, Keaton Henson is never shy to expose his demons or his world through his poetry. ‘Follow Orders’, ‘Performer’ and ‘Aeroplanes’ were the stand outs.

‘Performer,
If you keep eating chunks of yourself off the bone for applause
There won’t be much of you left to applaud
Or hold in cold mornings when you can’t get to sleep
Because the world’s too loud outside your door’

[Brecon · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘I’m fine, // thanks for asking.’ 🥲

[Bek13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keaton Henson succeeds once again at writing poetry so honest and painful you can’t help but falling in love with it. Performer was one of my favourite poems ever read and I know I will carry the thoughts with me for a long time.

[Décio Coelho]

Soothing sadness.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful poetry book that has been a joy to read. It is simply about the facets of life, loss, ourselves and other people in our lives.

The last poem especially, was a lovely droplet of hope, a truly beautiful ending and sense of closure to a book filled with life.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

touch the pages of this book and think of all the arms that made it
that it was once trees,
made mush and pressed hard enough to print on
hold that thought gently as you read

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to reread one poem and then reread them all <3

[Mus · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems were twisted, real and touching.
Some confused me and will have to be reread and reread until either comprehension settles or I give up, and some immediately clicked into place.
I had trouble with the rhythm and sentence structures at times, probably due to being a non-native speaker.

I’m ever so grateful I had the chance to read these poems, especially the second half of this collection clicked inside my brains and had me connecting with Henson’s words a lot.

[Thea Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

once again, keaton henson continues to amaze me. i discovered keaton’s music in high school, and between his songs and his poems, it feels like meeting in a cafe with a long lost friend to catch up every six months or a year, and hearing how sad we are, but how much we’ve grown.

i have endless highlights and ever growing love for henson. thank you for ACCIDENT DANCING.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve completely adored Keaton Henson for the past eight years, this man has inadvertently been my companion through so many life experiences, both good and bad. After several years of relative quiet from K.H, Accident Dancing felt like a catch-up with an estranged friend. This poetry is painful and hopeful and made me fall in love and cry in equal measure. It’s very good to have him back.

[Elizabeth Muller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m obsessed with all of Keaton’s art, but this poetry collection in particular stands out to me. I love the vulnerability, raw emotions, and glimmers of hope. Poems that especially stood out to me - overcome, los angeles nocturne, the blind spot, performer, andrew wyeth in east london, thank you letter, and ode to a london apartment

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will love whatever Keaton Henson puts out for the rest of my life. I'm still trying to learn Healah Dancing on cello and I can't bloody do it justice so I'll just listen to it and read his poetry over and over again instead.

[Sergio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de leerlo ha cambiado la imagen que tengo de Keaton Henson. Como si con cada libro (o álbum) fuera dando pinceladas que se van acercando cada vez más al retrato que desconozco de uno de mis artistas favoritos. Y eso me gusta.

a life
in fragments.

[Vera Santomé · Rating 2 out of 5]

Algúns poemas son coma unha ventá branca coa madeira desconchada, agudos e fríos. Mais hai outros nos que un certo ton egocéntrico e do ideal de muller-milagre-virxe-redentora que o salvan da súa soidade me crispan.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so goddamn sad I just want to hold his hand

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like it's hard to say much about poetry. But it was beautiful and made the hard, dark things seem soft too.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rhiannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Alan Gajdoš · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accident Dancing just pulls you in. I have never seen, heard or read something so brutally honest. Keaton exposes himself whole and man, is it a wild ride.

[Matthias Vannieuwenhuyze · Rating 5 out of 5]

He's done it again and now we weep.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel the heaviness of every word… every word.

[Sean Stephensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this as much as Idiot Verse, felt a bit forced whereas Idiot Verse felt a bit more natural/spontaneous. Still some nice stuff in here.

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fact-I have a copy where pages 87-102 are twice but I don't mind it at all because this is a masterpiece ✨

"I'll fix your broken bones for you
so's you can break'em all over again'
he says."

[Ryan Doonan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A canon event

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

To love someone enough to write "she is the greatest apology the world has ever offered" -- to be hopeful enough to say "what an opportunity to carry on" about the ability to think.

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw and beautiful. Wish I could give it 6 stars. Wish I hadn’t waited so long to read Keaton’s work.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

for that hollow feeling that love existed but ate itself whole

[Li Arnaut · Rating 5 out of 5]

sempre leio livros escritos por celebridades com certo receio - muitas vezes não são bons mas os contato$ da pessoa facilitam a publicação etc. então, apesar de gostar bastante das músicas do Keaton Henson, peguei esse pra ler com o mesmo medo.

mas ei! que livro! bom!

o keaton henson consegue escrever poesia incrivelmente bem - não parece uma letra de música transcrita nem nada - e o livro é muito bem editado. é basicamente uma autobiografia separada em 5 momentos da vida (infância, adolescência, início da vida adulta em uma nova cidade, a vida adulta e relacionamentos e o "long way down").

marquei tantos poemas como preferidos que não consigo nem fazer uma lista (ou ficaria grande demais). mas é o tipo de poesia contemporânea que eu gosto: os temas são modernos, e a linguagem tambem, mas a estrutura e o liricismo ainda está aí.