PRE-ORDER

perfume explores the senses, the body, and the intimacies that occur when the two combine. Through poetry and prose, Barnes navigates the boundaries of human relationships, with an onus on queerness, sex, and experimentation; asking questions of how our bodies can be thrown into action and reaction after the most seemingly innocent – but sometimes sordid – experiences. A natural progression from her pamphlet, unfaithful, perfume sees Barnes push the parameters of erotic writing to ask new questions, and brave new answers.

By turns a lament and a hymn to strength at the intersection of art and life, Barnes’ new collection should cement her reputation as a poet of distinctive voice and compelling talent. Intensity of language and vocabulary, compassionate and evocative of sensory overload while articulating a vivid poetics of the erotic. If the olfactory sense is the most strongly linked to memory and experience, Barnes takes this to a new and transporting level. How do we really take account of our lives, our good or suspect or inevitable choices? This is instructive and inspiring work. — Luke Kennard

This collection, much like perfume itself, springs forth in a shock of beauty and delicate intimacy, as it develops it reveals vulnerable, complex undertones gently, creating an elegant and sometimes painful portrait of love, sex and intimacy. Unlike perfume, these poems won't just linger on the skin, they will burrow bone deep. An exquisite, well-crafted and deeply emotional collection. — Ciarán Hodgers

64pp