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Stark Naked
Stark Naked is Silvia Cantón Rondoni’s intense personal journey. These reflections reveal her transition from childhood through grief and trauma to the woman of resilience she is today. Illustrated by Silvia Nieto in close collaboration with the poet, her artwork adds visual soul and compliments a collection filled with raw emotion and brutal honesty.
52 pages, Paperback
Published June 14, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 16, 2021
Silvia Cantón Rondoni's "Stark Naked" is here to remind you that poetry doesn't care about form and metaphors: it cares about expressing feelings as accurately as possible, whether joyful or, in this case, painful. "Stark Naked" isn't a collection of poems, but rather a minutely constructed work, where all parts and pieces connect through the ripping and freeing of the true soul - poetic soul that is, not the religious one. Through poems that are part diary, part reminiscence, part experience-sharing, "Stark Naked" joins the ranks of great docupoets such as the recent Matt Bialer collections, or Cynthia Atkins's. Poetry here isn't used as a lens in through which should peek to see the world, as a direct connection with it. Dealing with trauma, sexuality and non-normative identities, "Stark Naked" is a powerful antidote to bullshit poetry and melodrama kings and queens. Supported by Silvia Neto's brilliant illustrations, "Stark Naked" is a must-read for all interested in testing the limits of poetry - and of the self.
June 23, 2021
I’ve not read any of Silvia’s work prior to this, but recently when she asked the Kendall Reviews team about people to reach out in regards to getting her collection reviewed, I volunteered as well.
I love reading poetry, even if I don’t always get it or am smart enough to get the theme being conveyed, but there’s something so phenomenal about reading a poem. About an author baring their soul in a line or over an entire collection.
This collection is gorgeously illustrated by Silvia Nieto and each illustration really works to increase the emotions found in each piece.
What I liked: The two big notes I have written down while reading this collection are, “GRIEF PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE” and ‘BRUTALLY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.” That really sums up the entire batch of poems. These are hard to read, with limited uplifting moments. There are a few, sure, but when I was finished, I was stunned with just how introspective and honest each of the poems were.
The first one, ‘Disclaimer’ really lets the reader know just what they are in for. We then get a one-two punch revolving around acceptance and moving forward with ‘Then’ and ‘Now.’
‘If Only I Knew’ and ‘Origins’ were two moving pieces. Each one dealing with where the narrator of the poems came from as well as looking back on decisions they’ve made through their life.
‘Nobody/Somebody’ was a touching poem. From my interpretation, I felt like it was somebody seeking their soulmate. someone who can complete them and make them happy.
‘David. Me. Why.’ This was a very hard piece to read. I suspect it was based on real events, but even if not, it is a poem that questions life’s moments and why the narrator is where they are versus where they could be.
The highlight for me, though, was ‘Dear Chris.’ This read like an unspoken eulogy. Saying goodbye to somebody in a way they never could when somebody was alive. Touching and devastating all within the grief of knowing you’ll never see them again.
Silvia’s poetry was both accessible yet elevated, introspective but relatable. This was a really nice group of poems that’ll make readers turn over key words and lines repeatedly, knowing that by doing so, you’ll change the meaning of spots throughout.
What I didn’t like: Poetry collections are meant to engage and uplift or cause sadness. So, when an author lays themselves on a page like this, I can’t now sit back and say anything negative about their experiences. This was really well done. If anything, I’d have loved a sentence or two after some of the poems about the author’s inspiration behind the piece, but doing so may affect the readers experience.
Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a poetry collection that will feel relatable and have some shared life experiences, this fits that bill. Certain moments in each poem made me think of different family members, friends or moments in life. Silvia has a way of making each piece a cathartic experience but also a shared piece with the reader. As though she herself is sitting beside you, reading it aloud.
This was really well done and I can’t recommend this one enough.
I love reading poetry, even if I don’t always get it or am smart enough to get the theme being conveyed, but there’s something so phenomenal about reading a poem. About an author baring their soul in a line or over an entire collection.
This collection is gorgeously illustrated by Silvia Nieto and each illustration really works to increase the emotions found in each piece.
What I liked: The two big notes I have written down while reading this collection are, “GRIEF PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE” and ‘BRUTALLY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.” That really sums up the entire batch of poems. These are hard to read, with limited uplifting moments. There are a few, sure, but when I was finished, I was stunned with just how introspective and honest each of the poems were.
The first one, ‘Disclaimer’ really lets the reader know just what they are in for. We then get a one-two punch revolving around acceptance and moving forward with ‘Then’ and ‘Now.’
‘If Only I Knew’ and ‘Origins’ were two moving pieces. Each one dealing with where the narrator of the poems came from as well as looking back on decisions they’ve made through their life.
‘Nobody/Somebody’ was a touching poem. From my interpretation, I felt like it was somebody seeking their soulmate. someone who can complete them and make them happy.
‘David. Me. Why.’ This was a very hard piece to read. I suspect it was based on real events, but even if not, it is a poem that questions life’s moments and why the narrator is where they are versus where they could be.
The highlight for me, though, was ‘Dear Chris.’ This read like an unspoken eulogy. Saying goodbye to somebody in a way they never could when somebody was alive. Touching and devastating all within the grief of knowing you’ll never see them again.
Silvia’s poetry was both accessible yet elevated, introspective but relatable. This was a really nice group of poems that’ll make readers turn over key words and lines repeatedly, knowing that by doing so, you’ll change the meaning of spots throughout.
What I didn’t like: Poetry collections are meant to engage and uplift or cause sadness. So, when an author lays themselves on a page like this, I can’t now sit back and say anything negative about their experiences. This was really well done. If anything, I’d have loved a sentence or two after some of the poems about the author’s inspiration behind the piece, but doing so may affect the readers experience.
Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a poetry collection that will feel relatable and have some shared life experiences, this fits that bill. Certain moments in each poem made me think of different family members, friends or moments in life. Silvia has a way of making each piece a cathartic experience but also a shared piece with the reader. As though she herself is sitting beside you, reading it aloud.
This was really well done and I can’t recommend this one enough.
August 11, 2021
I recently read the newly launched volume of poetry Stark Naked by fellow Canberra author and Catalan-born poet Silvia Cantón Rondoni.
This poetry collection explores the darkness of grief and uncertainty after a personal tragedy, and focuses on finding a way to live in a newly altered world. Some of the highlights from this collection include “Then” and “Now” – complimentary poems detailing depth of grief and hope for the future, “Origins” about the struggle to overcome adversity of other’s opinions, “I Dare you to Love Me”, and last poem in the collection “David. Me. Why”, an exploration of worthiness.
Final Thoughts
This collection of poetry, Silvia Cantón Rondoni’s first in English (her third language), is a stellar debut. The poems and the illustrations beautifully capture the uncertainty of grief and a future life with fundamental part now missing.
Conclusion
Highly recommended! A visceral but evocative examination of the darkest sense of self and striving to live when everything has fundamentally altered you. A must-read collection with beautifully matched illustrations!
This poetry collection explores the darkness of grief and uncertainty after a personal tragedy, and focuses on finding a way to live in a newly altered world. Some of the highlights from this collection include “Then” and “Now” – complimentary poems detailing depth of grief and hope for the future, “Origins” about the struggle to overcome adversity of other’s opinions, “I Dare you to Love Me”, and last poem in the collection “David. Me. Why”, an exploration of worthiness.
Final Thoughts
This collection of poetry, Silvia Cantón Rondoni’s first in English (her third language), is a stellar debut. The poems and the illustrations beautifully capture the uncertainty of grief and a future life with fundamental part now missing.
Conclusion
Highly recommended! A visceral but evocative examination of the darkest sense of self and striving to live when everything has fundamentally altered you. A must-read collection with beautifully matched illustrations!
August 1, 2021
Stunning collection of heartfelt poems accompanied by wonderful, darkly whimsical illustrations. A thoughtful, shocking, engrossing read.
What a great value little chap book!
What a great value little chap book!
August 18, 2021
This gorgeous and heart-rending collection does not pull any punches, and Silvia is a truly amazing and adept poet. The verse is raw and visceral while somehow also tender, honest and deeply beautiful. The collection is a daring insight into some of Silvia’s most private moments and many of the poems left me feeling profoundly emotional. The gorgeous artwork does a fantastic job of weaving all the beauty and pain together. This is an outstanding collection from an extremely talented poet, and I can’t wait to read more from Silvia.
December 23, 2021
“Draining my wounds onto the page / memories haunt me and I sit back / watching chunks of my existence turn into tales…”
"Horror Writer (I Become)"
In his Unreliable Memoirs, Clive James quips, “Most first novels are disguised autobiographies". If the same proves true of poetry collections, we may well quake. Passionate and confronting, this book of Rondoni’s constitutes an odyssey from compromised childhood through desperate adolescence, to something that is neither redemption nor revenge, but which may represent maturity.
Rondoni has a gift for expression and a sincerity of voice. This, in itself, would not suffice, but she grasps structure as well. In order to work as poetry, free verse needs to find its own, internal consistency and rhythm, devoting every word to the momentum of the piece. Such are the strident repetitions of “They”. The canting of elders, peers and other persecutors provide the structure of this excellent poem, until the final lines turn the tables. “Infectious Grief” approaches concrete poetry, the image of words in balloons shaping the piece physically as well as symbolically.
The need to escape runs urgently through the collection, lines of flight taking many forms. Some of the most fearful moments find the narrator teetering between the challenges of changing her physical location and the urge to turn inwards, sink downwards. But the stories that comfort her in childhood expand amazingly into “Buzzed Up. Post-Con Disorder”, suggesting these options in fact complement each other.
Throughout this process, the narrator herself morphs and changes. Her body, perceived as monstrous by both herself and those around her, bruises and scars, vomits and falls, but persists. This process is reflected in the intricate artwork by Silvia Nieto that fills the gaps between the words with caterpillars, moths and an alarming quantity of displaced organs.
The book is short enough to take in at a sitting, as its intensity demands. Reading this collection is an intimate experience, as delicate tissues of words form over the wounds left by hatred, fear and love. You are left wanting to hug those closest to you. But the warning is clear – even outside of a pandemic, such contact carries real risk.
"Horror Writer (I Become)"
In his Unreliable Memoirs, Clive James quips, “Most first novels are disguised autobiographies". If the same proves true of poetry collections, we may well quake. Passionate and confronting, this book of Rondoni’s constitutes an odyssey from compromised childhood through desperate adolescence, to something that is neither redemption nor revenge, but which may represent maturity.
Rondoni has a gift for expression and a sincerity of voice. This, in itself, would not suffice, but she grasps structure as well. In order to work as poetry, free verse needs to find its own, internal consistency and rhythm, devoting every word to the momentum of the piece. Such are the strident repetitions of “They”. The canting of elders, peers and other persecutors provide the structure of this excellent poem, until the final lines turn the tables. “Infectious Grief” approaches concrete poetry, the image of words in balloons shaping the piece physically as well as symbolically.
The need to escape runs urgently through the collection, lines of flight taking many forms. Some of the most fearful moments find the narrator teetering between the challenges of changing her physical location and the urge to turn inwards, sink downwards. But the stories that comfort her in childhood expand amazingly into “Buzzed Up. Post-Con Disorder”, suggesting these options in fact complement each other.
Throughout this process, the narrator herself morphs and changes. Her body, perceived as monstrous by both herself and those around her, bruises and scars, vomits and falls, but persists. This process is reflected in the intricate artwork by Silvia Nieto that fills the gaps between the words with caterpillars, moths and an alarming quantity of displaced organs.
The book is short enough to take in at a sitting, as its intensity demands. Reading this collection is an intimate experience, as delicate tissues of words form over the wounds left by hatred, fear and love. You are left wanting to hug those closest to you. But the warning is clear – even outside of a pandemic, such contact carries real risk.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews