Hiding to Nothing

'Hiding to Nothing is a hard-hitting, lyrical exploration of attitudes towards women, particularly black women, and how those attitudes shape lives. [...] Anita Pati writes with uncompromising sensitivity and an forensic eye.'
Emma Lee, London Grip
'Pati’s excoriating debut collection is one of painful yet necessary release: “my chest frays open, / bivalved wires spitting, bloodish”. These vivid poems explore suppression and silencing – the violence of empire, the toxicity of whiteness, the pressures placed upon the female body. [...] These confronting, polyvocal dialogues ring with the energy of long-held suffering, finally released into a shared language. [...] This visceral, affecting and politically astute collection announces a courageous new voice in British poetry.'Rebecca Tamás, The Guardian
'Anita Pati's Hiding to Nothing [from] Pavilion Poetry is unforgettable, giving voice to silences of many kinds, esp[ecially] those persisting around infertility. Her poems are compelling, fierce, playful & her approach always unexpected.' - Fiona Larkin
‘Hiding to Nothing is an inventive, highly original collection, fizzing with barely concealed anger at the violence of Empire, of racism, of patriarchy & of how brown women's bodies are treated. This excerpt, from the 'Bloodfruit' sequence, draws on interviews with many women:

'I'm unprecious cargo. Not a real woman. My body's betrayed me.
Q. Are we only worthy when we've procreated?'

Hiding to Nothing is bold & rather brilliant.’

Katrina Naomi, Katrina’s Poetry News

'Anita Pati’s debut collection utilises form and language to devastating effect. The central section is an elegy for all the “neverborns” and the women who were mothers all too briefly. In other poems, uncompromising in scope and content, women’s bodies take centre stage: are shown as being overly scrutinised, found lacking, raped or put under the knife. Channelling a myriad of voices, Pati speaks commandingly for those who, though suffering, continue to see “only stars”.'
Shash Trevett, Poetry Book Society Bulletin
'This lyrical first collection explores ideas around self-worth and unbelonging in dazzling brave and powerful poems using a multitude of innovative and exciting forms.'
Mary Mulholland, The Alchemy Spoon
'Startling, visceral lines ... with an energy that often eludes British poetry.'
April Yee, The Poetry Review

‘The humour and wit in Anita Pati’s Hiding to Nothing could cauterise any wound’ Suna Afshan, Wasafiri

‘We can't doubt Pati’s strong empathy, including her sense of the sheer longevity of painful experience… Pati is in many ways a relentless writer… detailed context, close analysis and skilful poetic technique enable us to understand the precise nature of a specific form of cruelty.’ Dilys Wood, ARTEMISpoetry

‘Hiding to Nothing bangs the door open and enters with a shout. The panic throughout this magnificent debut collection is palpable… This is a brilliant and inventive collection – one I will definitely keep coming back to. The playfulness with form and different degrees of faintness of text all work really well and enhance the poems meaning.’ Julia Webb, Under the Radar