Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We will come to regret the day when we deny the individual the freedom to feel.

We have become consumed by the idea that to be able to make our position clear must mean we are seeking confrontation, and perhaps in a way we have, for in a world that finds ever more ingenious ways to make us believe we are being heard, only to find out that we have been ignored, or worse, offered platitudes in the form of verbal bromide, being unable to make peace through the art of flowing anger is to stunt the growth of anyone with a soul, anyone with passion.

To confront is a right, to have the freedom to self-expression is a right denied many, and unless we fit into the ever pocket size boxes designed to separate us, that confrontation against bigotry, against every unbearable ism that plagues us will not only be drowned out but will have us only able to shout our frustrations against the infinite roar of the sun.

These Are The Words I Shout At The Moon, ideas caught in the ethereal moonlight, for anger has no place in the starkness of irradiated light, it is a finer act when it rages in the darkness, and for Nia Shea, the sheer riot of her written words, ideas and wrath do more than make the moon shake, they make the Earth beneath her feet tremble with consideration, and in her argument she supplies a much needed, indeed compulsory, poetic truth.

There is a moment when the whole wall that she has demolished becomes apparent, the single phrase that all poets look for when placing together their life and anguish, their existence and the angst, together on a page, and in the subtly of brilliance that accompanies “Not when I Heimlich Maneuver lies out of you…” it shows the depth of frustration that we have with each other, whether it is in personal relationships, in the resentment we hold against incompetent government, or in the fear that we have in hearing the truth from another’s lips.

One of the infuriating phrases when someone reads another’s work is that they can call it ‘nice’ or they question the emotions running through another’s being, these are not mere insipid routines that can be placed against These Are The Words I Shout At The Moon, for there is a terrific sense of burning injustice to be found throughout the entire book, and one that catches the eye, as well as the heart, with pleasure, making a mockery of the bromide infusion others seek for such young poets to drink, quelling their appetite to have their voice heard.

An outstanding debut collection, Nia Shea’s These Are The Words I Shout At The Moon is series of poetic blasts that are honest, sincere, extravagant in their delivery, passionate in their belief; these are words we should all wish we could hit society over the head with.

Ian D. Hall