Sardines and other poems

Knight’s first collection of poetry for young people is stylishly produced, with a great cover and what I guess are sardines on each page. It’s aimed at older teenagers and nostalgic adults and could sit easily in either section of a library or bookstore.

It’s full of a sense of loss, with the death of Knight’s father appearing several times alongside tragically sad poems about lost childhood and lost opportunity. Stalking through the book too is a sense of threat, from cats, the sea, the weather. Or perhaps it’s merely the threat of change both personally and in the world and the desire to hide in a wardrobe and hold back time. Teenage poetry often plays into certain stereotypes of form, language and subject. Knight avoids doing this and offers readers an intelligent collection of beautifully crafted poems. This book will speak to angst ridden, misunderstood teens and those adults who cringe at the memory of what it was like to be that age and in that mindset.