Vanity Twist, by Iain Grinbergs

Poetry, chapbook, 40 pages, from Bottlecap Features. Vanity Twist is an existential exploration of non-normative love, loss, and desire. It has more questions than answers. It revels in “low” and “high” culture. It is a success and a failure, a celebration and a mourning. The collection toys with traditional forms and free verse to create a unique collection full of tension, which is articulated by a playful poetic voice. Self-acceptance is the main concern throughout. Ultimately, Vanity Twist is a reminder that you can find a path through trauma in poetry. "Full of wonder, spontaneity, and heart-breaking candor, Vanity Twist explores the ways in which our desires do and don’t define us, how our first loves are often the most indelible, and how language itself might begin to heal the ruptures and fissures of a life lived on the move, if not on the run.