Peach Pig

by Cecilia Knapp

' Cecilia Knapp is a great writer. I love her' KAE TEMPEST

In her devastatingly powerful debut collection, Cecilia Knapp examines the experience of motherlessness and its lasting impact, as well as the lessons passed between generations of women.

These poems explore women's complicated relationship with their bodies, with sex, and with shame as she traverses the violence of romantic love, but also employs humour and mischief, a wry reclaiming of power.

We hear stories of a challenging childhood in a seaside town, a girl growing up, getting out and reckoning with the guilt of being 'one of these people now.'

The collection also offers a look at Knapp's close relationship with her older brother, his struggles with addiction and, eventually, his death. With tenderness, she remembers him and unpacks the unique grief that comes after a suicide.

Peach Pig is a candid and unflinching look at loss, an attempt to find a language for it. It grapples with feelings of anxiety, insecurity and displaced anger; but it is also a collection full of dreams, hope and vibrant persistence, a willingness to question and to carry on.

Genres: Poetry, Summer, Contemporary

60 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2022

About the author

Cecilia Knapp is a poet, playwright and novelist and the Young People’s Laureate for London 2020/2021.

Abridged from author's website.

Reviews

[Asa ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This poetry feels so fresh and clean, yet it cuts deep into you at times. It's been amazing hearing some of it in person this week! There's something pure about how Cecilia speaks and reads that feels so genuine. I loved the daydreams and the seascapes too.

[meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

“When you died, though I’d asked you not to, I got some rest.”

“A woman happy with her own shrinking in the last weeks of her life”

very moving and funny poetry collection about loss, family, growing up, sex, suicide, disordered eating, being and staying alive. i cried.

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny and moving 💓 I like this style of writing about grief, jumping quickly between super personal memories and mundane observations and thoughts

[Lucy Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This kind of changed my life a little bit

[Harsheni · Rating 4 out of 5]

a raw collection, hard-hitting and honest.

[Clodagh Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so SO good

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I very rarely read poetry, but this lovely little book of poems absolutely gripped me. This package only arrived today and I read the book in 2 sittings and have marked my favourite poems. This poetry book is full of feminism, personality, violence, sex, love, family, loss and pain. One of my favourite poems was “My Mother Quit Bread”. I found this book of poems really deep, at times funny and just really enjoyable. I highly recommend!

[Serge ♆ Neptune · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the fiercest and most talented poets in London. Loved this.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

i legitimately read this from cover to cover and savoured every word, every breath. the subtle and illuminative ways it gestures towards what i thought were the distinctive underpinnings of my own subjective world are astonishing (see: that tiktok trend where people realise they’ve never had a unique experience, ever). a woman fighting against her classed identities, the fraught language used to process grief with emotionally detached caregivers, the peculiarities of intrusive thoughts that come with disordered eating (that only seem so ludicrous when verbalised), those tiny moments in which you see yourself becoming your own mother… i could go on! not to mention there are some absolute zingers (i particularly loved “i’m a pig. i need a pat on the back” and “how do you enjoy a fuck when you’re sunburnt with grief”). very excited to read more from this poet.

[Aisling · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me this is poetry at its compulsive best. I had to hold my eyes back with reins to stop myself tearing through these poems as fast as I could. I wanted to savour their depths. Cecelia’s poetry is accessible but complex, relatable through its specificity, modern but with a classic heart, funny and deeply affecting. I felt like I knew her through these words and, much more unusually, that she knew me.

[Kalyani Warrier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecilia Knapp's poetry collection Peach Pig is complex in my understanding.

Since it is a poetry collection, I don't think I'm prepared enough to give a written review yet, as I would not want to analyse the poems completely until I understand the nuances, the themes and the literary devices used.

[Diyora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such beautiful poetry, thank you for writing this.

[George Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh it can hurt to be alive. But it can be so gorgeous too. Ouch.

[Sapphire Allard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured it in one sitting, will read several times. Some lines are so perfect you need to sit with them a while.

[Sophie Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I inhaled this. What an incredible talent - not one word is wasted in stirring every possible emotion.

[Anna Sinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute gut punch. This hit home.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Janae · Rating 3 out of 5]

there were some gorgeous, quotable lines in almost every poem

[nelly :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 :)

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best poetry I’ve read in quite a while. And it made me want to write poetry!

[Malin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these poems are very raw and you get a good glimpse into Knapp's feelings of grief and family relations. However, some of the poems are not my style, and some I just didn't like.

[Soplapin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Dillon O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way this is written. Her poetry flows like thoughts and has such a genuine insight into femininity and experiences of loss.

[Caitlin]

“The world was pouring in on me, a barrel of ripe fruit
tipped over my head and I was sticky,
it was stunning.”

[sawah · Rating 5 out of 5]

give my diary back cecilia

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry collection that stings in the best way.

[Katie Gavriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of short snackable, gorgeous poetry

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just glorious.

[Jacque · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a stunning poetry collection! I was SO excited to receive this, and have since read through it a few times. Cecilia's cadence and word choice is so exquisite. I will re-read this time and time and time again. I love her work, she is a brilliant writer!

I don't have my copy with me at the moment but when I do I will update this with some of my favorite lines!

....

Favorite Lines:

from "I Used To Eat KFC Zingers Without Hating Myself" ~

I'm a pig. I need a pat on the back.
I need a thigh gap. I use emojis
to avoid conflict.

----------------------------

from "Television" ~

Another cover up, another
sad dad in a limp anorak with a picture of his missing girl.

----------------------------

from "The bees are on the roof" ~

Oh, to sleep,
to sleep like a man.

----------------------------

from "Designated Survivor" ~

It gets to you eventually. Being the one to live on,
my body an imperfect seal for all my liquids.

----------------------------

from "Seascape" ~

how many women have run from their homes
to the sea?

----------------------------

from "I was grotesque with summer, haloed" ~

I threw my look together with a flourish,
wore my grandma's clothes. A better time, simpler.
You could pick up an old car
for less than a hundred quid, and drive it
with no seatbelt,
right down the coast with men
you hardly knew.

----------------------------

"Daydream"

I eat a whole loaf
of sliced white bread.

----------------------------

from "You Know a Market Where the Tulips Are Still Three Quid" ~

You know how to keep useless things
in case you need to build a shrine.

----------------------------

I could go on and on really, this collection is incredible! I've read it over and over countless times. I really love Cecilia's work! ♡

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

you’re a rotten peach… clinging to its stone

Some of these poems left me with a pit in my stomach, and had me reading them compulsively. I had to force my eyes to move slower. All of this I mean in a good way. I loved the recurring appearance of the seascapes and daydream poems. Highly relatable, I’m very happy to have discovered this.