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Love and Fuck Poems

by Koraly Dimitriadis (Goodreads Author)

4.44 of 5 stars 4.44 · rating details · 25 ratings · 14 reviews

FREE POSTAGE WORLDWIDE 2 DAYS ONLY! SIGNED COPIES! While stock lasts http://www.outsidetheboxpress.com/boo...
Sexually repressed, separated Greek girl on a rampage. There’s no love here, just fucks. But is she fucking him or fucking herself? Love and Fuck poems. A 52 page story told through poetry. No fluff, no birds and trees, just honest, raw, poetry.

zine, 52 pages

Published June 24th 2011 by Outside the Box Press

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Love and Fuck Poems
by Koraly Dimitriadis (Goodreads Author)

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May 14, 2013 Frances is currently reading it · review of another edition

I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!
http://youtu.be/8V8tMK68M7U

I haven't even read this book, but I know I'm in love. I have finally found a legitimate reason to become a stalker. MUST read more about this beautiful, amazing woman.

(view spoiler)...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Phillip Ellis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers of poetry

Recommended to Phillip by: Graham Nunn

Is there a golden age in Australian poetry? Is there a golden age of Australian women's poetry? It is, of course, impossible for me to say so definitely, yet Koraly Dimitriadis' Love & Fuck Poems can be cited as evidence for this supposition. There are, after all, many reasons for considering it strong, effective poetry. It has a direct, affecting use of language and technique. It also has an emphasis on oral techniques, and a subtelty of register that is clear evidence of the poet's skill....more Is there a golden age in Australian poetry? Is there a golden age of Australian women's poetry? It is, of course, impossible for me to say so definitely, yet Koraly Dimitriadis' Love & Fuck Poems can be cited as evidence for this supposition. There are, after all, many reasons for considering it strong, effective poetry. It has a direct, affecting use of language and technique. It also has an emphasis on oral techniques, and a subtelty of register that is clear evidence of the poet's skill. And, as poetry designed to be performed, it also works perfectly on the page, among many possible considerations. An end result is that these poems are vivid and memorable, not so much inviting as demanding reperformances.

One of the clearest features of Love & Fuck Poems is the unwavering emotional honesty evident in both the poems' language and technique. This can be seen in pieces such as “Your Cock” which opens: “I have never wanted to suck cock / because it's so wrong / and I'm a good Greek girl” (lines 1-3). The honesty of language is clear in the consonance between the poem and the poet's voice; it captures not only an idiolect, but the wider, almost subsociety of “good Greek girls” in such a way that the poem speaks not only for the poet, and her chort, but also for women everywhere. There is a universalism here, because it is so honestly particular.

One particular reason for this is that the language is both direct and unadorned, yet also working in places through a more Asianic register. The poems are not all displaying the same, flattened affect of diction. We can see this, contrasting the “I want to kiss your eyes at sunrise / bathe with you in your bathtub” (lines 1-2) of “Your House” to the “Yo Davo, where'd you go, Davo, where'd you go?” (line 1) of “Davo”. That almost Asianic register does to devolve into purple patches but, rather remains controlled and disciplined. This control and discipline is a clear result of the poet's command of technique, as is the language's refusal to become overtly poetical for its own sake.

A major part of that technique is a reliance upon an oral delivery. These are poems that are meant to be recited, to be delivered aloud either by the poet or by a skilled reader. The word “voice” sums it up: these poems have a voice, a unique and direct voice. They are also true to the idiolectical voice of the poet, to the voices of her cohort, and to the voices of many young women. It is important that the poems signpost the way they are to be delivered if this is to effective. The typography helps guide us, as does the skillful use of appropriate punctuation and white space. The language, too, helps. And a major factor is the use of line endings, especially the strong, resonant predominance of masculine endings that tend to strengthen rather than diffuse the lines' power.

The subject matter is consonant with the oral delivery, and with the unswerving honesty of the style and language. This is clear through such phrases as “I am so over wog guys” (line 1 of “Wog Guys”) where the demotic of the colloquialism neatly sums up both the poet's exasperation and finality of thought. It is, that is, an example of the case where what the poem expresses overtly is backed by by the connotative emotions, and this is a further function of the poet's mastery of technique, and her skill with the language that forms the medium of her poetry. This consonance works through the oral delivery, it informs and helps it deliver the poems' worldview.

One aspect where most performance-driven poetry fails is a tendency to weaken, to fail upon the page. This is most often due to a failure to signpost the intricacies of the performance through the text, which is, after all, really the only means whereby the orality of a technique has been effectively transmitted for millenia. This failure is not evident here. The poems of Love & Fuck Poems work on the page, they work splendidly. And they shine in a sensitive, nuanced performance; having heard the poet read her own work, it is possible to say that her delivery is pitch perfect, and rather than diminish their effectiveness of the page, it resonates even through the print.

The total result of all this is that Love & Fuck Poems is a collection of strong, affecting and poignant poems which resonate in the memory. The very act of writing this review has demonstrated this to myself. The act of selecting, say, passages such as “I am the only one / that can love me / I don't know me” (lines 1-3) of “Me myself and Love” bring back both the tenor and the emotional impact of the poems, so much that I desire to hear and to read them again, immediately. This can be a rare thing, but it has been commen among recent Australian poetry. I would guess it is a function of the amount of strong, creative poetry that our poets are creating, almost as if our golden age is now, and I am glad to say that, if there is a golden age, especially of strong, distinctive women poets, that Koraly Dimitriadis is one of those poets on the strength of this book alone.

I started by asking if there is a golden age of Australian poetry, if this is it, in effect. I have gone on to note, to effectively conclude that the poems of Koraly Dimitriadis' Love & Fuck Poems can be taken as evidence of this. Effectively through their vividness, their ability to resonate in our memory, and the way they demand rereading and reperformance. In doing so, I have talked of their language, their oral technique, and of their range of registers that effectively avoids too ornate a language. But are there any clear answers to such questions about the golden age? Can I even answer them? I could, but I defer from doing so. Rather, I want to concentrate on what I respond to in Love & Fuck Poems, what I derive from them, and what makes them so strong and effective as poetry. This is the least, and maybe the most that any review can do.(less)

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Feb 27, 2012 Amra Pajalic rated it 5 of 5 stars

Koraly's poems are raw, and honest. They are what you'd imagine you'd hear in a priest's confessional. After reading her poetry book I wrote to her that I felt like I'd bathed in her soul. There aren't many artists who are brave enough to be this open, to share their deepest darkest thoughts and let us into their world, and through the experience we're changed. While we are a voyeur, we are also a witness to her life, and in her poems we'll find a glimmer of truth that echoes our own lives.

Two o...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Mark William Jackson rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an important collection on a few counts. Although the poems might not appear to everyone’s tastes, either thematically, or because they don’t adhere to any strict, established form, they do serve poetry by illustrating the power of the form to release a person from boundaries, be they real, perceived or self-imposed. These are strong poems from a confident voice that literally demands to be heard.

http://overland.org.au/2011/09/a-voic...

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Apr 08, 2012 Sadie Forsythe rated it 4 of 5 stars

I preface this review by stating that I am not the artsy type who knows anything about poetry. I feel bad for breaking Dimitriadis' 5* streak. She might deserve it and I just don't know enough to see it. I thought about half of these poems were sublime and the other half I neither liked nor disliked. This is deeply personal poetry about crumbling relationships, longed for love and (as the title infers) fucking. If my best friend was writing it I would want to hold her hand and cry with her.

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Feb 27, 2012 Bronwyn Lovell rated it 5 of 5 stars

The rawest and most honest collection of poetry I have ever read. These are brave poems in which Koraly exposes herself and her sexuality with unbridled passion and gives the literary gatekeepers the proverbial finger. Holding this volume is like holding Koraly's heart -- beating, bloody and beautiful.

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Feb 27, 2012 Kenso rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sharp, strongly written, raw poetry. A lot of narrative-confessional poetry is written by male poets; this is a unique glimpse into the female psyche when given unrestricted boundaries. Although it is strong poetry in a gender-neutral sense, the perspective is refreshing.

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Feb 27, 2012 Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely fabulous. I purchased this book after I took my broken heart to Melbourne for the weekend. The raw emotion was exactly what I needed.
Utter perfection. Life and romance described in words I couldn't quite find myself.

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Nov 23, 2012 Koraly Dimitriadis rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

After the success of my zine, Love and F**k Poems, Outside The Box Press have republished Love and F**k Poems into book which is now the Deluxe Edition. The poems have been edited by Les Zigomanis, and the book contains extra poems which create a stronger narrative and allow the book to stand as an erotic verse novel. This is raw, emotive poetry, not the kind of stuff you read in boring academic books. You can buy from any of these stockists RRP $18.95 http://outsidetheboxpress.com/our-tit... an...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Ashley rated it 2 of 5 stars

Was a pretty good book. Some of the poems where a little weird but i overall enjoyed this book of poems. I could even relate to a few

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Feb 29, 2012 Leigh Hopkinson rated it 5 of 5 stars

A brave honest collection of poems that inspire me to lay myself bare and be true. Provocative, playful and prolific...

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Oct 17, 2012 Danielle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I won this book through the GoodReads First Reads giveaway. Let me first say I am not a big fan of poetry so reading a whole book on one was a first for me. I was very intrigued by this book of poetry mostly because of the title, and I was not dissapointed. There were definately a few poems that really spoke to me and for that I will forever be greatful. The only reason this gets such a low rating is that poetry just isn't my cup of tea.

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Jul 13, 2012 James Jaeger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Creative, very thought provoking. No walls are put up in this work of art. Everything is out there for you to expect or not.

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May 31, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-read-books

Raw and beautiful. I definitely recommend this book of poems. (I received this through GoodReads First Reads)

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Recommended to Mark by: Frances

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About Koraly Dimitriadis

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Koraly Dimitriadis is a Cypriot-Australian writer of poetry, prose and non-fiction, and is mentored by the award-winning writer, Christos Tsiolkas. She blogs for Overland and presents on radio. Koraly’s writing has been published online and in print, has been broadcast on radio and television, and was displayed...more

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