Dee Dickens

I studied this collection in my first year of university and again in my third year. It now never leaves my side. It is a stunning collection and Some Bright Elegance is my go to poem when I need to calm and centre myself. I was the garage emcee with the TDK tapes and though, being mixed race and born in London means my lived experience was different to Chingonyi's, there is enough that we share that means this collection makes me feel I have a brother; someone who understands. This collection is informing my own writing and making me look deeper into who my ancestors were and examine the idea of agency and hereditary trauma. Thank you for writing it. When I hold it, it is just me and the drums. Talking.