Antonia Jade King’s debut pamphlet, She Too Is a Sailor is full of protest and melody. Invoking a choir of inspirational women from Beyoncé and Maya Angelou to the poet’s mother, King deconstructs what it means to be woman, to be other, to be an outsider in your own family. On love, the speaker simultaneously bites and holds back, accepting that cynicism does not render her immune and that ‘my name is not protection from men or their fists’. Intertwining pop culture with the political, this book is a reminder of art’s capacity to reclaim narratives.
“She Too Is a Sailor is a work of fresh and direct testimony; these are poems that witness identity, womanhood and the mother-daughter relationship as a site of both pressure and empathy. Searching, probing, and never afraid to face down difficult subject matter, these are formally curious poems where ‘love without politics feels fragile’ and the necessary business of catharsis and transformation is achieved with admirable honesty and arresting wit.” Karen McCathy Woolf
“Filled with passionate, personal and political poems. Well crafted and engaging. A wonderful read relevant and necessary.” Kat François
“Antonia Jade King is here to take up space. Any suggestion that these are the poems of an ant—a small brown thing—should be put, and left, in the bin. These are poems of power and growth. Poems which name not only themselves, but also the women—past and present—on whom this voice leans. In this pamphlet you will find song and laughter, but do not mistake this for carefree joy. This is a perceptive study of survival and understanding.” Gboyega Odubanjo
“Antonia’s poetry should come with a warning: just when you think it’s pleasant, calm and witty verse… blam, that sting, those breath-snatching lines. These fifteen poems do not play around.” Joshua Idehen