REVIEWS

THE GLASS MOTHER
REVIEWED BY Professor HELEN TAYLOR IN tHE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
27th october 2016

'This is a raw, at times distressingly honest account of a brilliant academic facing the challenges and complacencies of a patriarchal academy in the early days of feminism. A student mother, Jackson gradually loses touch with her beloved son as her career blossoms, then spectacularly explodes. Writing with a novelist’s flair, the author gives a recognisable account of higher education in the 1970s and 1980s, with fascinating insights into the working conditions in the new 1960s universities – Warwick and East Anglia – compared with the first round of poorly resourced polytechnics. An intensely personal story of maternal deprivation, relationships and emotional breakdown, and the discovery of new joy and security in following an Indian guru, this beautifully written memoir deserves wide readership within and beyond the academic community.'

The Light Box
reviewed by Rachel Playforth in Frogmore Papers 88
Autumn 2016.

‘This powerful collection is about what happens when we let love into our lives, how – like light – it can be exposing, unflattering, even blinding, but also cleansing, warm, truthful and joyful… The alluring not-quite-truths of art are also dramatically captured in a specular ‘Can You Make My Mouth Smile More?’ which would be the standout poem here if there weren’t so many equally strong contenders. Some of the best pieces are also the shortest, bursts of emotion perfectly distilled.’

THE LIGHT BOX
REVIEWED BY WENDY KLEIN IN LONDON GRIP

'In January 2015, I wrote an enthusiastic review of Rosie Jackson’s first pamphlet What the Ground Holds for London Grip, finishing with my anticipation of a full collection. My anticipation has been well-rewarded with this new collection from Cultured Llama Press. Jackson’s work has the ring of a confident poet writing at the height of her powers; brilliant poems from her earlier pamphlet nestling alongside new companions as brilliant........

This extraordinary collection filled me with envy and joy in equal quantities. Read it and see.’

THE LIGHT BOX
REVIEWED BY IAN POPLE IN MANCHESTER REVIEW MARCH 2016

‘The Light Box is a very handsome book… Love won, but all too often lost, is a constant in a number of these poems and Jackson writes about pain with some exactitude and wit. ‘