Beautiful Nowhere

"Louisa Campbell writes resonant, musical poems. They smuggle the difficult textures and weight of trauma into language that shimmers with clarity and a wonderful lightness of touch. They avoid simpli­fying, ever alert to the doubleness of experience. Even the bleakest moments here are often transformed by relentless energy and a playful eye: “Grab on tight to all your grief”, one speaker urges, while another watches as “The sky falls, magnificent as a tumbling ballroom chandelier.” The lively voices and characters that people these pages compel attention, leading the reader along unsafe edges towards rapturous heights." – John McCullough, author of Reckless Paper Birds, winner of the 2020 Hawthornden Prize