The Girl Aquarium

Poetry of innocence and wonder. Poetry of darkness and deformation. The poems about girlhood experiences are daringly original. -- Daljit Nagra
These poems push and pull you, making strange bedfellows of butchery, freaks, and the inner lives of girls. Her roller-coaster of vivid images threaten to tear the paper. -- Melissa Lee-Houghton
I am impressed by the boldness, close to wildness, of Jen Campbell's imagination. As well as being fascinated, I take her very seriously. -- Christopher Reid
This blistering poetry collection explores showmanship, the so-called freak industry, fairytales and spectacle - and, in fact, it doesn't so much unpick these things as smash them to pieces and make them new... I love so much about it: how it kicks against tropes of disfigurement, how science jostles against fantastical circus, how it explores the way in which girls' bodies can be sites of both self-discovery and exploitation. It is defiant, bold, brilliant. As the penultimate poem states, "Smash this circus to the ground. -- Elizabeth Macneal * The Guardian (Top ten books about circuses and spectacle - No 2: The Girl Aquarium) *