Ripe

by Isabelle Baafi

'Hunger made me’, reveals one speaker in Ripe, and the desire to be satiated fills these poems. Desperate women hide grains of rice in their hair, baked beans evoke a strained father-daughter relationship, plantains endure the fire. Yet hunger takes many forms, as the risks and rewards of its satisfaction are weighed, and cravings for intimacy are charged with danger. ‘When we’re born, we’re someone else’s’, but in this daring exploration of identity and survival, we hear a thrilling new voice come into its own.

Genres: Poetry

29 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic pamphlet - really exciting new collection that I would recommend to anyone.

[Sophia Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I debated giving a rate and review for this pamphlet because well… it’s a pamphlet. But I had the chance to meet Isabelle Baafi months ago and I really, truly enjoyed, both her written and performance poetry.

With poems like 𝘖𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘴 (that I relate to a bit too much) and 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 leaving me S T U N N E D, I was left wondering why I felt like something was missing.

I haven’t been able to put my finger on it really. Sometimes it was the experimental structure of some poems, sometimes they just felt difficult to read.

But I know that this pamphlet had some incredible gems in it, that I didn’t even anticipate after seeing her perform at the @oxfordreviewofbooks. I can’t wait to see what she does next 😊❤️