sad thing angry is an expression of the inexpressible: the fracturing of
a relationship with living.
In this unique and brilliant debut, Emma Jeremy finds new language to
navigate a journey where guilt and hope, grief and isolation live side
by side. In a voice that's both daring and one-of-a-kind, these poems
hold a quiet wisdom earned from knowledge delivered too early. This
ambitious collection hums with complex feeling, bringing into question
what being alive means, when all you can think about is death.
"I am a dour and obsessive person and I am in these dour days obsessed
with the dour and obsessive sad thing angry by Emma Jeremy. These poems
are funny and horrifying, destabilizing, depersonalizing, extremely
weird, and so extremely smart. "i should have picked up a lamb many
years ago / so as it grew into a sheep / i could have grown stronger,"
Jeremy writes with characteristic twistiness. For this and other
important regrets, I recommend sad thing angry, which, like the lamb,
will strengthen you. Pick it up."
- Natalie Shapero
Emma Jeremy is a British poet, born in Bristol. She is the author of
Safety Behaviour (SmithDoorstop, 2019) and a former winner of the New
Poets Prize. Her poems have featured in publications such as Poetry
London, Poetry Review and Magma. sad thing angry is her debut
collection.
