Laura Solomon 
Frida Kahlo’s Cry [PDF ebook] 

Many of the poems in Laura Solomon’s second poetry collection take the viewpoint of an historical person. The poems give voice, among others, to Lord Byron, Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Joan of Arc and Jack the Ripper. Several deal with themes of depression and agoraphobia. ‘Apocryphal’ gives a voice to the words that have been locked out from the cannon, the words that have been ostracised and excluded but that somehow have managed to find a way in anyway, slipping through a crack in the door that has been accidentally left ajar. ‘Resurfacing From the Wreck’ alludes to the Adrienne Rich poem ‘Diving Into The Wreck’ and could be construed as being about the poet’s art of diving within to come up with ‘pearls.’ ‘The Crows and Me’ refers to the poetry of Ted Hughes and features a fire goddess swooping and diving across the London skyline. Most of the poems have appeared previously in print or in online journals in New Zealand or the UK, but this is the first time they have appeared together in a collection.