I received this book from River Street Writing in exchange for an honest review.
“Every day, I want to reach / inside my chest, dig my fingers in, / and pull my rubs apart: / let me breathe / until I burst,” (“Ritual for Release,” Bates-Hardy, 9).
In Anatomical Venus, Courtney Bates-Hardy writes a collection of poetry where she takes readers into the vulnerable and real experience of living through chronic pain and how it fundamentally changed her life, not only physically but mentally.
The poems found throughout Anatomical Venus detail a few serious car accidents that Bates-Hardy was involved in and the hospital visits, diagnoses, PTSD, and adjustments to life as a person living with chronic pain. It’s intimate and vulnerable. I appreciated to how Bates-Hardy included poems that spoke of how the healthcare system would disregard her pain as it is an unfortunate reality for many chronic pain sufferers, even more so when those people are women.
I also loved how Bates-Hardy’s poems went into the fantastical, fairy tale realm through the latter half of the book as a metaphor for chronic pain and how she spoke of her own grief for her grandmother. Anatomical Venus is a beautifully written poetry collection, I love the honesty and vulnerability and will be looking out for more of Bates-Hardy’s work!
Publication: April 9 2024
Publisher: Radiant Press
Pages: 84 pages (Paperback)
Source: River Street Writing
Genre: Poetry, Disability, LGTBQ2s+, Canadian
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:
Anatomical Venus is a visceral collection of poems that invoke anatomical models, feminine monsters, and little-known historical figures. It’s a journey through car accidents and physio appointments, 18th century morgues and modern funeral homes. Grappling with the cyclical nature of chronic pain, these poems ask how to live with and love the self in pain. Magic seeps through, in the form of fairy tales, in the stories of powerful monsters, in the introspection of the tarot, and the transcendence of queer love.
Sarah O'Connor 