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korourke's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Suicide and Deportation
Poems about the New Cross fire in 1981 and the Grenfell tower fire in 2017.softgalaxy's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
An amazing poetry collection. I don’t know much about Black history in the UK, so this was my first time hearing about the New Cross Fire of 1981. The way that Bernard drew connecting lines between what happened in 1981 and the Grenfell Tower Fire of 2017. Not much has changed in the treatment of Black lives in the UK. The media, the politicians, the police don’t care and will never care.
It also talks about Black queerness briefly, and how Black British queerness is another thing that isn’t really well documented. I guess it’s saying that Black pain is more documented than Black joy, which is very true when we look at the type of movies that win awards over the years.
Overall, it’s a collection about memory, community, justice, and how interwoven these concepts are. Memory is justice. Justice is community. Community is memory.
It also talks about Black queerness briefly, and how Black British queerness is another thing that isn’t really well documented. I guess it’s saying that Black pain is more documented than Black joy, which is very true when we look at the type of movies that win awards over the years.
Overall, it’s a collection about memory, community, justice, and how interwoven these concepts are. Memory is justice. Justice is community. Community is memory.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
harryedmundson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
beca_reads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
A stunning collection of poetry focusing on the new cross massacre and Grenfell Tower. I always believe that listening to poetry is the best way to digest it, and through listening to Surge I got to hear and feel the emotion of the poetry. Some of the poetry is also closer to music so listening to it, you get a better sound of the rhythmic pacing, compared to reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation