130 x 205mm, 68 pages, Black & white printing, Open glue bound, Card cover, Edition of 100, 2024

'Lydia Unsworth has the uncanny ability of showing us things as they are in their unvarnished, most truthful state. A propulsive read, Arthropod is filled with vehicles: planes, bikes, buses. Even bodies are made purposeful as a means to carry out journeys: practical, maternal and sexual. The poems enact the contemporary struggle to settle somewhere, anywhere; houses are deconstructed around the reader, tents are pitched on tarmac and the speaker is constantly on her way to somewhere new. This restless movement is reflected in the musicality of the writing, at times words seem to lift off the page, threatening to take flight. The repeated image of the inside of a plane is a manifestation of the collection’s preoccupation with control and the possibilities of relinquishing it, even briefly. Resisting the impulse towards resolution, Arthropod is a clever rendering of the reality of living – a journey rather than a destination.' - - Emily Cooper

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