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Hera Lindsay Bird
Hera Lindsay Bird
Jan 1, 2026 1:21 PM

Author:Hera Lindsay Bird

Hera Lindsay Bird

'Without doubt the most arresting and original new young poet, on the page and in performance' - Carol Ann Duffy

A Sunday Times Book of the Year and New Zealand's best-selling collection, from the unstoppable force behind such poems as 'Monica' (the one from Friends) and 'Keats is Dead so F**k Me from Behind'

this impressive debut has established Hera Lindsay Bird as a good girl......with many beneficial thoughts and feelings......

with themes as varied as snow and tears, the poems in this collection shine with the fantastic cream of who she is................juxtaposing many classical and modern breezes

Bird turns her prescient eye on love and loss, and what emerges is like a helicopter in fog......or a bejewelled Christmas sleigh, gliding triumphantly through the contemporary aesthetic desert.........

this is at once an intelligent and compelling fantasy of tenderness......

heart-breaking and charged with trees......without once sacrificing the forest............

whether you are masturbating luxuriously in your parents' sleepout..........

..........or pushing a pork roast home in a vintage pram...................

this is the book for you.............................................

heroically and compulsively stupid..................................................................

...........................................................whipping you once again into medieval sunlight.

PRAISE FOR HERA LINDSAY BIRD

'I think there's a pretty strong case which suggests Hera Lindsay Bird is like the most exciting newish poet in NZ' - Steve Braunias

'Hi, dear, we have to say how much we enjoyed, if right word, the Hate poem. Really made us think, loved the line about the ancient cannon' - Text message from Ashleigh Young's mum

'The wickedest problem in Hera Lindsay Bird is not sex but taste' - John Newton

Reviews

Frank and outrageous ... it has made me, like many others, more excited about poetry than I have been in a long time

—— Guardian

Full of outrageous guilty pleasures. She writes with the cheek of Frank O'Hara

—— Telegraph

Funny, clever and deadpan and kept me hanging on every line ... Her writing has a freshness and straightforwardness that strides confidently off the page

—— Jon McGregor , Observer

The deadpan comic bravado of the New Zealand poet Hera Lindsay Bird looks literary decorum in the eye and dares it to blush

—— Jeremy Noel-Tod , Sunday Times

A literary phenomenon ... goofy, funny and tender, her energy and sensitivity will captivate

—— Elle

Without doubt the most arresting and original new young poet, on the page and in performance

—— Carol Ann Duffy

You are bound to find yourself moved and entertained by an iridescent novel from a writer who has come through Lagos and London to take his place as one of our newest, and most gifted, native sons

—— Chicago Tribune

Barney Norris is a rare and precious talent

—— Evening Standard

Impressive

—— Financial Times

Turning for Home is a resonant portrayal of memory, and Barney Norris a writer of impressive talent.

—— Times Literary Supplement

By turns lyrical and stark, emotionally charged and unflinchingly factual . . . a harrowing tour de force that ends on a redemptive note

—— The Lady

The writing and structure are exceptionally good. Richard has fantastic finesse with the use of language and the enviable ability of describing a lot in concentrated amounts… It has a reflective after burn, which I always rate as a skill in its own right, and so it is definitely one, if tempted to, you ought to give it a go. The writing is impressive and most definitely unique

—— Sara Garland , Nudge

The book is convincing as an exploration of ourselves and the meaning of identity and truth in a "fake news" world.

—— Verena Vogt , Belfast Telegraph Morning

“You might want to get a firm grip on your socks before cracking open this one; otherwise, Gonzales is likely to knock them off. It’s very difficult to categorize this mind-bending novel… it’s pure excitement… A brilliant genre-blender.”

—— Booklist (STARRED review)

“The narrative not only bounces between perspectives in short, propelling chapters, but also pinballs in time... Gonzales writes with an abundance of imagination, riffing on comic book and pop culture plot lines and characters while adding his own unique perspective... there are moments of brilliance.”

—— Publishers Weekly

“A hyperkinetic sci-fi set piece along the lines of Die Hard seeded with paranormal elements cribbed from half a dozen other franchises and the absent-parent grudges that fuel any number of teen novels. … Genre enthusiasts will love the spooky cyberpunk spirit at play here, and resolute readers will be rewarded with an unexpected ending that ratchets up the action long after the Regional Office has been abandoned. A surprisingly erudite bit of sci-fi that throws in everything but the kitchen sink.”

—— Kirkus

If we do a better book than this on the [Simon Mayo Radio 2] Book Club, we'll have a very very good year!

—— Matt Williams, Radio 2 Book Club

A Gentleman in Moscow is quite a novel. Towles’ use of language is a pleasure and you can’t help but savour every word . . . a great work of fiction.

—— The Herald

A love story like no other, in a beautiful-looking book.

—— Sun

The perfect escapist read, Amor Towles’ A Gentleman In Moscow is utterly mesmerising.

—— Stylist

An inventive and charming novel

—— You magazine

The same gorgeous, layered richness that marked Towles' debut shapes this novel

—— Entertainment Weekly

A masterful writer . . . a talent for conjuring up scenes from the past and present and bringing them into remarkable focus

—— Washington Times

This novel is as much a celebration of that great culture as it is a biography of an irrepressible and indomitable spirit . . . an absolute must read.

—— Irish Independent

Spread across four decades, this is in all ways a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom and philosophical insight.

—— Kirkus

This is parable for all world travellers.

—— GQ

A charming novel.

—— Sunday Times Culture Magazine

Lovely, long and lingering story.

—— Red

Written with a clipped, capering style and comic flair that can't fail to charm.

—— Compass magazine

A profound, often funny survey of mid-20th-Century Russia

—— Daily Telegraph

Unputdownable

—— Irish Independent

Among the greatest comic novels of all time . . . told with such style and wit that every page reduced me to helpless laughter and admiration

—— The Daily Express, BOOK OF THE YEAR

The book I would recommend to anyone who appreciates what only fiction can do … It’s a page-turner and a delight.

—— David Hepworth , Radio Times

I love the novels of Amor Towles, especially A Gentleman in Moscow - he has this ability to nail the idiosyncrasies and quirks of a character in just a few words.

—— Antonio Pappano , Daily Telegraph

A heart-warming story that asks the reader to consider what is important in life. We loved it. *****

—— Woman’s Weekly

I can highly recommend A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles as lockdown reading ... The story resonates because we have all endured restricted lifestyles of late and may continue to for months to come.

—— Philip Rodney , The Times (Scotland)

It is a good book to read during this pandemic because it's about how he is being confined to Moscow's Hotel Metropol.

—— Dougray Scott , Metro

Towles's book is a delight, with a beguiling central character and lively descriptions of life in Russia over a period of 30 years.

—— Independent

A wonderful bookwhich gives the reader an understanding of life in post revolution Moscow.

—— Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

Totally original novel ... A great deal of Russian history is also subtly woven into this magical book, which is tear-jerking but never sentimental, with a quite unexpected and thrilling ending.

—— Daily Mail

Wonderful, combining brilliant storytelling with beautiful writing.

—— Jeffrey Archer, Daily Express

I love the novels of Amor Towles, especially A Gentleman in Moscow - he has this ability to nail the idiosyncrasies and quirks of a character in just a few words.

—— Antonio Pappano, Daily Telegraph

It's hard not to fall in love with Count Rostov, an impeccably mannered and mischievous aesthete placed under permanent house arrest at Moscow's Metropol hotel ... An endearing and frequently hilarious novel that covers big topics with a velvet touch.

—— Independent
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