...and then she ate him, by Tom Denbigh

Better spoken aloud, a loss of comedic timing in the written format.

A witty collection of poems that playfully commentates on LGBTQ+ culture. And then she ate him is a debut collection by Tom Denbigh who’s poetry first came across as naff using poor rhyming couplets. However, slowly I began to let go any expectation for these pieces to be hard hitting, they are playful and I discovered best read aloud to emphasise comedic timing. Stories surrounding LGBTQ+ too often are centred around bleak topics such as family dismissal, the AIDs crisis, or anything connected to discrimination. So it was refreshing to read a light exploration to the poet’s personal relationship with his sexuality, whilst making poignant observations on the otherness of being gay in a heteronormative world. Unapologetically, my favourite poem was one that describe a visit from Santa Claus that was neither friendly nor PG.

If you are a Heart Stopper fan this is the collection for you.

Written by Stephanie Ornithari Roberts