Vertigo & Ghost: Poems

“Misogynistic violence, ancient myth and modern rage confront each other in moving and dynamic verse.”—Financial Times Winner of the 2019 Forward and Roehampton Prizes, Vertigo & Ghost pitches quickly into an “addictive, thrilling, sickening” (John Self, Guardian) sequence of graphic, stunning pieces about Zeus as a serial rapist, for whom woman are prey and sex is weaponized. These are frank, brilliant, devastating poems of vulnerability and rage. In the book’s second half, acclaimed poet Fiona Benson shifts to an intimate and lyrical document of depression, family life, and early motherhood. Vertigo & Ghost introduces an important British voice to an American audience, a voice that speaks out with clarity, grace, and bravery against abuse of power.