The Girl Aquarium (Paperback)

Poetry of innocence and wonder. Poetry of darkness and deformation. The poems about girlhood experiences are daringly original. - Daljit Nagra

These poems push and pull you, making strange bedfellows of butchery, freaks, and the inner lives of girls. Her roller-coaster of vivid images threaten to tear the paper. - Melissa Lee-Houghton

I am impressed by the boldness, close to wildness, of Jen Campbell’s imagination. As well as being fascinated, I take her very seriously. - Christopher Reid

This blistering poetry collection explores showmanship, the so-called freak industry, fairytales and spectacle – and, in fact, it doesn’t so much unpick these things as smash them to pieces and make them new… I love so much about it: how it kicks against tropes of disfigurement, how science jostles against fantastical circus, how it explores the way in which girls’ bodies can be sites of both self-discovery and exploitation. It is defiant, bold, brilliant. As the penultimate poem states, “Smash this circus to the ground. - Elizabeth Macneal, The Guardian (Top ten books about circuses and spectacle – No 2: The Girl Aquarium)