BOOK REVIEW: Looking for fabulous creatures in “Not Your Orlando” (Punk Dust Poetry)

Not Your Orlando [by] Jaime Lock, George Parker and JP Seabright.- Blue and pink horizontal stripes and graphic of a pink, raised fist

Content notes: sex


As a somewhat ageing queer animal dejectedly harbouring a deep nostalgia for wilder, squalid times, I was potently drawn to Not Your Orlando - a multi-authored chapbook by Jaime Lock (they/them), George Parker (they/them) and JP Seabright (she/they), published by Punk Dust Poetry.

In addition to aching for a time I cared less what people thought, as a multisensation-seeking, neurodivergent person, I was also keen for the combined experience of hearing the three poets reading at the Punk Dust Poetry Zoom launch and also to later on, slowly explore the book - page by page. Beyond the heady vibrance of the front cover, readers will find poems presented in three sections: "agitate", "transmutate" and "celebrate". As someone who struggles to balance, I find the idea of rotating these emotions/processes boldly intriguing.

I enjoyed the densely storied titles and the restless vigour. Perhaps it was the cover image of a solidarity fisting in trans colours - the book feels like a hand in my brain, a nudge, a pushing - to expand and relax. (Metaphorically speaking of course…)

So the thing is, this year, I've mostly been reading ESEA (East and Southeast Asian) writing but this collection by three white poets held pleasure and queer spiritual value for me. I'm here because I want to know... How would it feel to (be me and dare to) write about bodies?

I'm a POC, raised in ‘80s/’90s UK and dipped in Catholicism from an early age. So lust and authentic emotions are everyday horizons I still struggle to validate let alone write about. And having been in a romantic slump for some time, I thirst to remember how it feels to be in motion, in desire. I am not disappointed. "You work me like clay, draw hymns/ from my body-cathedral" ("Dykes on Bikes and Whitney & Cher", George Parker).

"These are poems that should be on billboards," says award-winning poet, lisa minerva luxx.

YES - These poems SHOULD be on billboards! And if so, I would drive again. Into the sunset of punk dust poetry - into queerer waters... the "affirmation" of a trans kiss, "bioluminescence", "new constellations" (Jaime Lock)

Grounded and earthy constellations…. (Stock image by Suzy Hazelwood)

As well as poems about the "beautiful and profane./ seeking touch"("Horror vacui", JP Seabright), there are plenty of other feels too (e.g. not about sex). I appreciated Jaime Lock's gently hopeful visions of "Progress" and the heart-tearingly titled "Here too our mothers and fathers come to us with open arms".

Like many a generation x queer, trans person, I experienced alienation and isolation as a teenager without realising why. Recently I wondered how it might have felt to be part of a queer youth community group. Maybe we could have sat around performing poetry and making poetry zines. We could begun the adventure of finding ourselves and embarked on interesting journeys so many decades earlier...

Yet despite the bitter lateness of discovering I have queer wings and that there are many other queers around, at least now I have the strange satisfaction and thrill of knowing the lie of the fixed form, the unbending state, the binary...

"Am I Frankenstein or his monster? You ask. Neither. I reply" ("Shelley", JP)

That's it - we're neither here nor there…

We're...nevery-where.

Not Your Orlando is available to order here.


Ps. If you haven't checked it out yet, you have to see the Doors-esque bard band photo of George, Jaime and JP in the forest, photographed by Chiara Luxardo on Instagram. It is a WHOLE vibe!

2 panels from a sarcastic and mysterious comic story about coming out as trans - taken from my comic book "The Weird & Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse"

2 absurdly humorous panels from "The Return", a story from The Weird & Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse

The Weird & Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse is my new comic book about mental health, grief and growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Find out more here.

writing, trans, queerculture, LGBTIQ, creativity, books, DIY culture, mental health, poetryThe Mollusc Dimension