My Dark Horses - (Pavilion Poetry) by Jodie Hollander (Paperback)

About the Book

Set against the charms and vicissitudes of growing up in a family of musicians, Jodie Hollander's beautifully-structured and compelling debut follows the story of a daughter's maturing relationship with her mother.

Book Synopsis

Set against the charms and vicissitudes of growing up in a family of musicians, Jodie Hollander's beautifully-structured and compelling debut follows the story of a daughter's maturing relationship with her mother. Interspersed with versions of Rimbaud, and always alert to the surreal comedy of the human condition, these powerful and immediate poems chart with huge passion, musicality and insight a complex journey towards familial understanding and reconciliation.

Review Quotes

'Compelling....obsessive....heart-rending'
Compass Magazine

'For some, childhood innocence erodes slowly with each new experience. The lucky ones get to occupy this safe, uncomplicated realm - at least for a time. The longevity of this illusion often depends on the adults around us. For Jodie Hollander's protagonist, the illusion is broken at a young age, a recurring sensation that is explored throughout My Dark Horses.'
Lucy Winrow, The Poetry School

'Jodie Hollander's powerful debut collection is as hypnotic and rich as a dream ... Hollander's are finely tuned and strongly narrative poems, crafted with strong openings that immediately draw the reader in.'
Suzannah V. Evans, Times Literary Supplement

'Magnificent...a vast pallette of emotion.'
Robert Ham, The Portland Mercury

'The nice thing about the expression "dark horse" is that it applies whether the horse wins or not: it captures the possibility of breakout, and then admits the unlikelihood of it.'
THINK

'The poems in this collection, both blunt and lyric, stoic and tender, roll over the palate like the flavors of a complex dish.'
Donna Vorreyer, Rhino Poetry

'This is a technically competent, enjoyable collection which will bear repeated re-readings. At its heart, it is a book about processing and recovering. You will feel your humanity strengthened by reading it.'
Charlotte Wetton, The High Window

Reviews

'A torrent of shocking and revelatory poetry simmers between the covers of My Dark Horses, pulling the reader in with the very first poem...It takes great courage to write of love, grief, abuse, and survival with such unflinching honesty.'
Erica Goss, Pedestal Magazine

About the Author

Jodie Hollander was raised in a family of classical musicians. Her work has appeared in publications such as The Poetry Review, The Dark Horse, The Rialto, Verse Daily, The Warwick Review, The Manchester Review, Australia's Best Poems, 2011, and Australia's Best Poems of 2015. Her debut pamphlet, The Humane Society, was released with Tall-Lighthouse in 2012. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in South Africa, and was awarded a MacDowell Colony fellowship in 2015.