| Title | : | The Mask |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 46 |
| Publication | : | Published November 1, 2021 |
Horan has previously stated that she feels a kinship with her muse, and this collection has been written against a backdrop of personal and societal upheaval. It offers us a glimpse into another person’s world. Behind the curtain. Under the mask. There is truth to be found here. Honesty and bravery too!
The Mask Reviews
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A chapbook of poetry in celebration of the artist Frida Khalo.
The Mask may be a chapbook of only 21 poems, but my goodness it took me on a journey. Billed as ekphrastic poetry, I think that actually belies the quality of the collection. Certainly the poetic exploration and narrative reimagining of Frida Khalo’s paintings is dramatic and affecting, but this collection is so much more. There’s a universality to the themes of sexuality, paternalism, gender, politics and identity that make The Mask a startling and unsettling read.
I was glad of the Guide at the back of The Mask that led me to the paintings that inspired the writing as I know little of Frida Khalo’s paintings beyond her self-portraits. This meant that the collection lived beyond the confines of its pages, affording me an interest I didn’t know I lacked, but I thoroughly enjoyed thinking about the poems in the context of the images. However, even with as little knowledge as I had as a reader, Elisabeth Horan writes with such ardent passion that The Mask is an affecting and fascinating read in its own right. Although I couldn’t immediately translate the all the Spanish, its use fitted the poems perfectly, alienating me as a reader in the same way both Frida Khalo and Elisabeth Horan have experienced isolation and making the poetry all the more impactful. The language is frequently visceral with iterative images of orgasm, intercourse, blood and sexuality so that it is striking and the ability to shock.
I’m not sure I understood every aspect of Elisabeth Horan’s evocative, powerful writing in The Mask, but I found it perplexing, intriguing and thought-provoking. I’d thoroughly recommend discovering it for yourself. -
Incredibly powerful, an unashamed assertion of woman, ‘The Mask’ explores the exquisite intensity of desire. An intimate portrait of the cerebral and visceral meaning of yearning, Elisabeth’s lyricism urges uprising: the relinquishing and seizing of control. The rhythmical sense of abandon within these ekphrastic responses, intwined with Frida’s native Spanish, feed a lingering connection between the artist’s and poet’s tenacious spirits.
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I’ve read and enjoyed Horan before, but I didn’t really vibe with this one. Frida Kahlo, though…
