Photofit by Martin Jago
This powerful debut constructs a vivid portrayal of past and present events through unflinching and often darkly humorous poetry. These poems collide at the intersection of childhood trauma and adult memory, where identity is shaped and 'No one sees or hears / the crash – its horror unfolding between the front seats / in slow motion...' Through its narrative, this collection captures the chaos and energy of a childhood, the manipulations and assaults that hollow it out, and ultimately, the interplay between human fragility and resilience on the path to adult life. Along the way, there are ghosts, flashbacks, haunted dreams and vivid imaginings, and the test of human courage represented by a courtroom trial.
Praise for Photofit:
“Detailed and vivid in its imagery, Martin Jago's poetry is as dramatic as it is searching. In language as energetically voiced as the 'Trust me, it's going to work' instruction in the collection's title poem, the narratives of Photofit imagine into being an entire world of possibility and understanding.”
Jane Draycott
“Jago succeeds in writing into and about the unsayable, capturing the unruly edge of male vulnerability from all its angles. With a deft and modulated control of form, a haunting and luminous collection emerges probing ideas of memory, identity and culpability.”
Mary-Jane Holmes
"Photofit is a striking series of memories mounted to help heal and escape the pain of traumatic intrusion. Through a lush language, a precision of line break and form like High Renaissance brushwork, Jago has crafted a book of defiance and dignity, a book of self-confrontation and courage, a book of empowerment and healing."
Jose Hernandez Diaz
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