Simone Atangana Bekono's poems are vivid and arresting, drawing the reader in through all their senses. They are political, personal and have the feeling of letters or diary entries. In her debut collection, she addresses the social stigmatization of race and gender, invoking empathy and human connection in a voice that is both confident and innovative. I was born in a forest
I was born and someone trained a light on me
on the birthing cloth behind me my silhouette appeared
My silhouette opened her mouth, she said
‘I exist because your body exists
Cronus devouring his children
as bloodthirsty as Goya painted him
a body become unrecognisable
greedy and chaotic
not rooted in the earth’
that was all I had to go on