I have a few more advance reviews to share for talk to me about when we were perfect, and they're all great! I'm so happy that everyone is really 'getting' this collection, as I feel my poetry is more personal than my fiction and so it feels really important to me that readers enjoy it!
It's launching in March and will be available to pre-order NOW from Victorina Press.
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“It’s magical.” Ralph Dartford, author of Hidden Music
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"The writers I love the most really capture how it feels to be human; Huggins is one of them. This poetry collection expresses our melancholy, longings, griefs, and joys; it absorbs us in summer romances, lost loves, coming-of-age tales, what-might-have-beens, our struggles to navigate relationships in all of life’s seasons, and does it in a fresh and accessible way.
I have a sensation of familiarity with Huggins’s poetry, not because it’s the same as others I’ve read but because I’m so close to the emotions she conveys. The poems feel as though they have a warm amber tint, drawing you into their nostalgia, a glimpse into something private and personal.
Each poem is evocative and reaches far beyond the page. ‘no doubt’ is my favourite, no doubt about that; it’s a poem I wish I’d written! I was also particularly moved by ‘sparrow footprints’, ‘all those years, we were dancing’, ‘the sound of a heart breaking’, ‘the ending’, ‘a ribbon of red’, and ‘listing’.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a ‘poetry person’; sometimes it feels (rightly or wrongly) that the meaning is deliberately obscured, but that’s far from true with talk to me about when we were perfect. If you think poetry isn’t for you, try reading this collection. Read slowly; read aloud to feel the words. Huggins proves that she is a writer with great emotional understanding and the technique to express it; her work is deep, beautiful and truthful, free from pretension.
Kazuo Ishiguro said in his Nobel Lecture in 2017, ‘Stories can entertain, sometimes teach or argue a point. But for me the essential thing is that they communicate feelings… In the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it also feel this way to you?’
When it comes to Amanda Huggins’s poetry as well as her prose, my answer to these questions is always yes." Hannah Retallick, author and award-winning short story writer
"I love this collection and savoured every moment. Thank you for giving me the chance to enjoy it ahead of publication. talk to me about when we were perfect is a beautifully presented poetry collection by the wonderfully talented Amanda Huggins. The cover image, French flaps and illustrations underline the quality of this product. The poetry inside sparkles. I admire the careful ordering of poems, from the almost-baby in 'a ribbon of red' to 'egg' that follows. I love the reflective quality which captures young life and enabled me to re-experience the confusion or joy and spontaneity of youth. There are some absolute crackers including 'out chasing boys' which nails those heady days and 'dizzy with it' which captures the exuberance of the time. I highly recommend talk to me about when we were perfect. Treat yourself to a copy." Gail Aldwin, author of This Much Huxley Knows and The String Games
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