RECURRENT
By Darla Mottram

Wow. This was incredible. A poetic memoir, mixed with clinical and judicial documentation, left me feeling low and angry. This is the ultimate reflection on how unfair life really is fron the very beginning.

Publishing date: 24.05.2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

The book as a meal: Not a meal, a wake-up call
The book left me: Worrying

Negatives:
Some strange formatting

Positives:
Good flow in the poems

Features:
Trauma as art, multi-media, heartbreaking story across generations

Why did I choose this one?
More poems! I also wanted to dip my toes into some biography as I haven't really tried it out before

Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?
Pick-up-able. I had to take a few breaks between poems here and there, but that was simply becasue the matierial was so "heavy"

What was the vibe and mood?
A little court case, a little bit of those "documentaries" you can find on netflix, and a lot like uncovering family trauma at a kids birthday party

Final ranking and star rating?
B tier, 4 stars. This got me feeling a lot of different thing. Angry, sad, happy ... And this is a good biography told in a little bit of a different format than usual. I think I would read more of them if this was the norm

Favorite poems:
MYTHOLOGY
THE POEM FAILS
RECURRING NIGHTMARE
THE GOOSE

This book grabbed me: out of trauma and loneliness, Mottram has created a work of insight, beauty, and humanity. —Michele Glazer


This was such a beautiful and dark collection of poems that cover Darla’s life and experienced traumas. It definitely brought up some of feels as I read through each one.

5 / 5


Read 06.06.2024
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!!

Darla Mottram's collection of poetry is nothing short of brilliant. It's a poignant exploration of pain and trauma transformed into art, making it a must-read for anyone seeking an exemplar of such artistic alchemy.

Mottram's writing is imbued with such raw beauty that readers can't help but feel every emotion she experienced as she penned her verses. With unflinching honesty, she delves into heavy and dark subject matter, urging readers to approach with mindfulness of their own triggers. Yet, amidst the darkness, there's an undeniable authenticity that confronts readers with the reality of human experience.

What sets Mottram apart is her refusal to seek pity for her experiences. Instead, she presents her life with a remarkable openness, incorporating personal photos, letters, and documents into her work. This transparency not only enriches the reading experience but also serves as a testament to her resilience and strength.

As much as I'd like to highlight my favorite poems from the collection, I find myself returning to the titular piece time and again. It's a masterpiece that encapsulates the essence of Mottram's poetic prowess—a holy grail of verse that lingers in the mind long after the book is closed.

I have never read any of Darla Mottram's work before and I was plesently surprised. Her words caused me to pause and think about life and reflect on how I handle things in the crazy world we live with. Some of her words felt contrite and nonsensical. But, I did NOT feel moved to not finish. Recurrent will do well with it's intended audience.

This is a brilliant collection of poetry by Darla Mottram. One that I highly recommend reading for anyone who would like to see a prime example of turning pain and trauma into art.

Mottram writes so beautifully, you can feel every emotion she felt as she wrote. She pulls no punches, the subject matter is heavy and dark (so be mindful of your own triggers) but it’s so real and confronting.

Respectfully, Darla Mottram seems like the type of person who does not need nor want pity from her experiences and I think thats really admirable and something I look up to. She is super open about her life, including photos, letters and documents into this book. For me it enhanced the experience and was a smart creative decision.

I usually end off my reviews of poetry collections with my favourite poems but I cannot get over the poem that this book is named after. So i’ll leave you with one holy grail of a poem:

Recurrent

Thank you NetGalley for this e-arc.

“What if the connection, at the root of our existence, is in fact a connection and a severance? How does a sense of self form in relation to connections that hold within them such intensive ruptures and slides? How might one redefine family in such a way that severance can live with, not against, the formation of emotional connection?”

These questions asked in the book's description drew me to it. I have, more than once, found myself either thinking or asking myself (or others) some of these questions—in one form or another.

Recurrent, by Darla Mottram, is an autobiographical poetry collection about the author’s childhood and life. It captures the “difficult” childhood she had—her mother’s constant abuse of drugs, her father’s negligence (even locking her up once), abuse from her father’s friend, going in and out of foster homes, her mother’s demise, among others.

From her accounts, readers get to see how she navigates all these difficult moments and how those experiences shaped her. And all that is delivered through carefully layered verses.
The book starts with a “timeline,” which provides a solid context of the writer’s life despite being compressed. This prepares the reader for what to expect.

With each poem, Mottram paints a vivid picture with words, capturing the details of her childhood—how it feels to live with people who are not your biological parents, to be in foster homes, to be abused, and to hear about your parent’s overdose.

I enjoyed the use of diverse poetic forms and styles. They felt deliberate, and I am a sucker for intentional poetry.
One theme worth noting is the duality expressed in the poems. Mottram constantly used diction like “halve,” "halved,” “two selves,” "dividing,” and others. I feel they tie everything together given the context and the kind of life she lived, constantly wanting to be of a different life, or sometimes being different selves of herself.
Also, the addition of old pictures, handwritten letters, pages of court orders, adoption papers, etc. adds a layer of realism to the narrative in the collection.

My only reservation, though, is that it seems some of the forms and styles used in some of the poems appeared forced. They seemed like paragraphs forced into stanzas. I don't know if that was the point or if it was deliberate, but it was glaring to me.
I recommend this collection. However, be aware of some of its triggering themes before you pick it up.

Some of my favourite poems were;
1. Split
2. Lungfish
3. Song
4. Certificate of Irrevocability (I think this poem is a creatively beautiful poem).
5. Birth
6. Matryoshka
7. The goose
8. A picture goes in search of its frame
9. Praxis
10. Letting in the wolves

Recurrent is one of the most beautiful books I've read in a while. Darla Mottram's autobiographical works open up a host of emotion by bringing us along the timeline of the writer's life.

This collection is enhanced through the use of photos, letters and real-life documents, we are brought into this deeply raw, carefully shared story detailing childhood, assault, addiction and adoption. Honestly, once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Despite the collection being slated for publication, it felt like I was being trusted with and shared with by a friend. The narrative style was enchanting, contemporary but with a classical twist. The writing was incredibly atmospheric and evokes strong imagery, bolstered by the supplementary materials to the poems that have been carefully constructed- each with unique twists, rhythms, and style. Darla's voice shines, which feels doubly important when you embark on the journey of her life. There are several lines that took my breath away, and will stay with me forever.

My favourite poems were 'The Poem Fails' and 'An Extraterrestrial Sleeps in My Closet'.

Thank you Net Galley and Querencia Press for early access to this collection; it is one of those books that felt life saving.

This is a very good collection of poetry all tied together by a powerful message and I left it actually feeling something unlike with most other poetry books I find myself stumbling into. Worth a look.

Recurrent by Darla Mottram is a heavy collection of poems about Darla’s own life and trauma. She gives insights into her history and a brief timeline of her time in and out of foster care, then into processing everything that was very much out of her control.

She is raw and real in these poems and once I started reading them I couldn’t stop. A few of my favorites are “Apple Falls From Tree”, “The Goose”, and “The Poem Fails”. She paints a beautiful and heartbreaking picture of the reality so many children face and will pull at every ounce of empathy you have. Well done, would love to add this to my bookshelf!