Set Me On Fire: A Poem For Every Feeling

by Ella Risbridger

"Broad in scope, generous in spirit and wittily accompanied by Risbridger's commentary"
Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent

Set Me On Fire is an anthology for a new moment in poetry: a collection of fresh, vibrant voices from poets all over the globe, both living and dead. With an intuitive, accessible, feelings-first format, these are poems for the moments when you really need to know that someone else has been there too.

These are poems about eating and kissing and having too many feelings, about being outside and inside and loving someone so much you think you might die. They are about break-ups and getting back together and oh-god-it’s-complicated-don’t-ask-me moments. They are about wanting and waiting and having, about grieving and life after death and the end of the world.

They are, in other words, about being alive.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Anthologies

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2019

Reviews

[Heleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can NOT recommend highly enough. I repeat: I need you to understand how good this is!!

[Lizzie Huxley-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that basically got me through the year. Set Me On Fire edited by Ella Risbridger is a poetry collection like no other I've come across before. I struggled with poetry in school and both enjoyed and hated the "solve the poem like it's a riddle" exercise that every poem became, and so it was only when I became a bookseller that I really started trying out poetry again.⁠

This collection is perfect for people exactly in that stage, wanting to find out what they like that isn't necessarily written by a dead white man years and years ago. It includes several of my favourite poems, including Monica by Hera Lindsay Bird which is a poem about Monica Geller from Friends, which contains the line "she makes me want to stand in an abandoned Ukranian parking lot and scream her name at dead crows". There's funny poems and sad poems and poems about being a shabby daughter infatuated with the man who has come to visit. Throughout, Ella adds commentary or little notes about how the poems interlink or extra facts, which I enjoyed immensely. Her love of poetry really beams through the page and every aside feels like a secret passed to you.⁠

I dipped into it every night during the first batch of lockdown and it helped guide me through. I now have a list as long as my arm of poets to discover more of, which is a wonderful thing.

[seren✨ starrybooker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tend to avoid poetry anthologies- they’re usually too male and too white and too old, full of stuffy poems that give me flashbacks to GCSE English.

Set Me On Fire is the complete opposite to that, full of writing that feels new and exciting. I’m the type of person who makes Spotify playlists for every mood, so organising poetry by emotion speaks to me on a deep level.

I picked this up because I followed Ella Risbridger on Twitter and she’s kind of the reason I got into poetry in the first place. It’s as amazing a book as I hoped it would, and I can’t wait for it to get ruined due to over-reading.

[Zoë Marriott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best mixed anthology I've ever read. Sheer brilliance - truly diverse and inclusive, and so many unexpected, heart-stopping and unique entries. The way that Ms Risbridger connects them by feeling just enhances them, like laying different gemstones on a dark cloth and then turning on a bright light. I also loved her annotations, because so often the parts that had struck me were *not* the parts that had clearly effected her, and it made me go back and re-read each poem more carefully, and find new things to love. Recommended.

[Rozarka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how to rate this book. I am a beginner reader of poetry and the poems in this book felt too contemporary for my very basic, very classic tastes. Most of them I didn't care about. And yet. There were some poems, or sometimes only a couple of lines from them, that made me happy. That made me pause. That made me cry. That made me angry (and then I spent an evening trying to figure out why they made me angry). I want to buy the book and reread some of them. I want to buy it and from time to time open it at random and see how it makes me feel. What it makes me think about. Whether my impression changes (it surely will).

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favourite book of poetry I've ever read. Ella Risbridger's commentary makes it so approachable and enjoyable. Her enthusiasm and love for poetry really jumps off the page and made me engage with these poems in a really new way! For me, it also massively took away from my "Oh God, am I really getting this poem or am I too dumb for poetry" fear and just made me want to read more and more and more!

And, of course, the poems in here are also glorious! Such a great mix of styles and themes and poets you've not heard of before and poets you've always wanted to get to. Of course, I didn't connect with every single poem. But I'm a 110% sure there's poems in here for every kind of poetry reader.

And now I would like to reread it, please. And also purchase and read about 50 other poetry collections asap.

[Francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Ella Risbridger’s weekly poetry musings on the now defunct website The Pool, and she continues her feelings-first, passionate approach to poetry in this beautiful collection. Set Me On Fire groups poems by emotion, and Risbridger scatters the text with thoughtful observations here and there, avoiding any didacticism about meaning. Risbridger highlights poems from a diverse range of authors from across the globe, some older, some newer, dispensing with the genre’s sometimes staid connotations. Not every poem resonated with me, nor should it, just as not every annotation chimed with me, and nor need it. Favourites for me included Best by Laura Webb, What We Talk About When We Talk About Cheese by Josephine Frampton, Other Clouds by Rebecca Perry and Father’s Old Blue Cardigan by Anne Carson.

[Raluca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hardly ever read poetry. I'm not necessarily one of the people who, as Risbridger puts it, thinks that poetry is old and white and written in pretentious archaic language and fixed rhyme structures. But my experience with poetry is limited and fragmented at best; what I studied in school mostly met the cliché above, with a heavy dollop of "this is the correct, critics-approved version of the meaning, memorize it for your exams"; what I wrote in my late teens and early twenties was tentative; what I found on Instagram was junk.
So I hardly ever read poetry, but only because I wouldn't even know where to start.
This anthology was a good place to start. I hope I'll keep it up.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous, varied and necessary collection. I'll be rereading it every year.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

'For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen...'

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best poetry anthology i've ever read. need to buy a copy for every single person i know

[Jojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"[...] I myself am bored of fig leaves,
of shames I did not choose."

Ich glaube, es ist kaum möglich, alle Beiträge einer Anthologie wie dieser zu mögen. In diesem Fall mochte ich sogar einige nicht (oder habe sie nicht verstanden). Aber Ella Risbridger war erfolgreich in ihrem Versuch, sehr unterschiedliche Arten, Stile und Stimmen in diesem Buch zu vereinen und hat damit erreicht, dass ich unter denen, die ich mochte, einige Lieblinge gefunden habe, die ich noch viele Male lesen und zitieren werde.

"Poems are bullshit unless they are
eyglasses, honey
tea with lemon, hot water bottles on
tummies. [...]"

[Dan Giffney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been my companion for years now. I jump around based on how I feel and have looped back to the start a few times but this was the first time reading the last poem and Ella's dialogue and I immediately went back to the start to rediscover some old poems through new perspectives. I loved the interludes from the other who gets as excited as I do about poetry. It is so nice to have her voice throughout the collection.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a saying out there that you either love or hate poetry; there is no in-between. This collection is perfect for both ends of the spectrum of opinion, the end result being you’ll find something in this collection to enjoy.

Set Me on Fire: a poem for every feeling is a unique anthology that feels like a burst of oxygen. The poems themselves cover a wide range of emotions, and while some of them are the classic usual suspects, the majority of them are beautiful, deep, surprising gusts of fresh air.

The way they’ve been arranged is a delight; Ella Risbridger has lovingly (and adorably) sorted the poems into feelings and moods (Happy, Happy/Hungry, Having, Coffee, Talking to People/It’s Complicated, etc.)

This collection feels like a discovery; Risbridger’s enthusiasm and notations are joyfully infectious, and I guarantee you’ll find the experience rewarding, and will come away with at least one new poem to love.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este año he descubierto las antologías poéticas y las estoy disfrutando muchísimo. Mi idea de antología siempre había sido la tradicional con un señor mayor desempolvando poemas de hace cientos de años y diciéndote que debías o no debías pensar de cada uno. Esto es completamente distinto. Risbridger hace un esfuerzo muy consciente por encontrar un equilibrio entre autores noveles y clásicos (algunos de los autores incluidos están todavía vivos! y no eran totales desconocidos para mí!), mujeres y hombres, distintas razas y orientaciones sexuales y eso se nota. Pero esto no es solo un trabajo de "cuotas", los poemas seleccionados me han parecido de gran calidad y en más de una ocasión me han dejado con gana de leer más. Incluso tengo ya un par de nombre guardados para seguir leyendo a esos poetas. Si eso no demuestra como de efectiva es esta antología nada lo hará.
Por último, quería mencionar la presencia de la propia Risbridger en la antología. Leyendo algunos comentarios he visto que a la gente se le hacía demasiado invasiva con sus notas al pie en los poemas. Nada más lejos de la verdad para mí. El tono de Risbridger y su forma de abordar los poemas me hizo sentir no solo cómoda siendo alguien que "no entiende" la poesía, sino que además me dejaba con la sensación de estar teniendo una conversación con una amiga. Muchas veces terminaba el poema y tenía muchísimas ganas de ver que conexiones había hecho Risbridger, si coincidían con las mías o si me abrían una nueva forma de entender o de leer el poema. Un placer en todos los sentidos.

[Louise Croft · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an increcible collection of poetry both for pre-existing poetry lovers and those who want to start reading more, heck I'd even say it's great for people who think they hate poetry. The perfect blend of older traditional poets and more contemporary and newer poets means there's something for everyone and the book as a whole reflects the various facets of the poetry world. A lot of effort has been taken with this anthology to ensure a mix of poets from different backgrounds, genders and races and that really helps in making this anthology feel fully fledged and vibrant with a range of different voices. The footnotes and messages from Ella Risbridger herself also really help when reading the poems. It's so interesting to see her thoughts on the poems, her favourite lines, the meanings she takes away from them; sometimes she evens explains her reasons for choosing the poems or categorising them in the way she has. She also recommends other poems and poetry collections in these notes which means my poetry to read list has nearly doubled in size. Having her notes throughout the book also feels like you're having a really interesting conversation with someone about poetry and I really enjoyed that! Overall, would highly recommned this book, like I say to basically anyone whether they love poetry or not!

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness. With sadness there is something to rub against, a wound to tend with lotion and cloth. When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up, something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.

But happiness floats.” - Naomi Shihab Nye

“As a child in exile in a city of fogs and strange consonants, I read it first and at first I was an exiled child in the crackling dusk of the underworld, the stars blighted. Later I walked out in a summer twilight searching for my daughter at bed-time.” - Eavan Boland

[Georgie Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot rave about this anthology any more - it is the best (well close second after ‘Staying Alive - Real Poems for Unreal Times’) Ella Risbridger charms and entices you into exploring and reading and rereading these amazingly and thoughtfully selected poems. She makes a perfect case for the importance of poetry and is honest about how many dead white men poets there are and makes a concerted effort to have many other voices but not it a tokenistic way! I highly recommend it for people who love or hate poetry.

[Sayde Scarlett · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to read a collection of poems from someone who knows next to nothing about poetry this is, certainly, the book for you! There's nothing wrong with the poems themselves but Risbridger's commentary on them is vapid, trite and faux self-effacing. Completely cringeworthy. It's little better than incoherent rambling. I also wish they'd packed this books with up-and-coming poets and not bothered including already famous poets. That would have made the anthology fresher.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

more of a 4.5 for the whole book since i didn’t really connect with ALL of the poems (which is understandable, there were like 98 of them) but def a 5/5 for the reading experience. first anthology i’ve read and ????they’re so good? idk what else there is to say ???

[Leni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well this is just an absolutely amazing poetry anthology. I jotted down so many quotes from the poems and Ella Risbridger's commentary on them and her afterword. Just marvelous and heart-warming.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I a, not sure how to review this book. Reviewing poetry and reviewing literature seem like two entirely different things to me. Although I guess giving a review means giving my opinion, I am not as 'well sourced' in the world of poetry. At this moment, often when I am reading a poem I feel similar to seeing a painting in a museum. If it catches my attention somehow, I can stare at it for a long while; intrigued, magical almost abit hypnotizing in a way. Yet, really understanding it, is usually not the case. Maybe poetry isn't meant to be understood ( Ridbridger sometimes notes under a poem when she doesn't and doesn't seem to mind very much) or aybe I am just not that experienced yet.
It helped that this book was an antology though. Being the nerd that I am, I really like to understand things. I like (slightly analytical) explanation, theory and logic (although I am no beta type in any way - let me tell you; a strange combination -.-' ha. Anyway...), so I really enjoyed the authors afterword and explanation of how she sourced things, just as her personal notes and jottings through the antology. It made me understand something, even if it was just her opinion but often also poems or poetry. Beside that, they gave the whole antology a very original character, it feels like we get a bit of an inside into the authors world as well. Not one single time I found her commentry to be superfluous or inappropriate, it always seemed to 'add' something, something personal I guess. This was enhanced by the way the writer organized the poems, by feelings but very specific feelings at that. I have never seen something like this before. I like how she explained a bit why she'd done this in her afterword (reason 1). And I do really feel like some of the poems really spoke to me, surpingly enough also some of them by poets I never really heard before.
I discovered many new poems. I marked my copy all the way through, writing down poems wherever I found space in my stationary, house decor and christmascards. me being me, I especially appreciated a recurring coffee theme in some of the poems ;)
Anyther thing I appreciate is Ella Risbridgers dilligence in her selection process and her acknowledging that we are inherently biased towards (death) white male poets yet doing her absolute best to change the percentage of there representation in this antology which. It contains a great(er?) number of women poets and poets of colour. Of new poets but also some old.
I found it to be very joyful, adventurous and authentic reading experience. And allthough not all the poems spoke to me as not every artwork in an excellent museum does, the whole antology of it did. Would very much recommend for anyone, if you like poetry and if you do not like it (maybe especially if you do not like it, see dedication to of writer to Caroline O'Donoghue.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What this book has going for it is that the anthologizer actually picked all of them and likes them. This is one of the most personal poetry collections ever; and somewhat to my surprise, at the end, turns out she had done demographic spreadsheets to roughly equate the author percentages to the population of England. This collection is certainly not primarily dead white men.

There's a little bit of most things in here, from green glass beads to deep-fried ghosts. Not much Christianity, except the crummy third hand kind that makes Satan slightly preferable. She's very clear that you, the reader, aren't expected to read everything in here or like everything you do read, which is good because I didn't. My dislike for Sylvia Plath continues unabated. But that's okay. There were others I did like. And I went away wanting to write a poem myself, which is probably a good sign.

Content note: This is aimed at adults and there are plenty of poems about sex. Risbridger really enjoys lesbian poets. There's also trauma and death, because poetry, but it was not primarily a traumatic anthology (some are).

[Flora · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poems are wonderful, the editing is thoughtful: a lovely mix of classic and contemporary; old favourites and new discoveries. It can be hard to know where to start with poetry and you really can't go far wrong with this anthology.

(I found the commentary a bit intrusive and twee, slightly like being patted kindly on the head, but Risbriger clearly cares an awful lot and means very well so I can't fault it too much.)

[Shalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely collection of poems. I struggle to enjoy poems, but there were quite a few in here that called to me. I also appreciated the cute notes the author includes, describing what those poems mean to her.

My favorites:

The Great Lover by Rupert Brooke
The Orange by Wendy Cope

[Ben Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful. If you love poetry read it. If you want to love poetry ready it. And if you hate poetry, read it.

[Lucía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigo sentindome tan inútil lendo poesía como na carreira, pero hai poemas chulos que me fixeron sentir main character

[chloe siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

YOU SHABBY DAUGHTER

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

First poetry anthology I've read. Very approachable because of Ella's annotations here and there.

[Amalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

SÅ mange gode digte i denne her <3