"We often talk approvingly about young writers who ‘find their voice
early’, without actually saying what we mean by it. Emily’s poems are a
triumphant case study of that process in action.
First of all, she had found her subject. Most of what you will read in A Sinkful of Sky concerns
the territory of mental illness. Without demeaning the seriousness of
that topic, I would however say her real subject is the gaps between
people, their silences and hesitations and the limiting effect of
language on communication. Far from overwhelming her, she tackled these
themes with great vigour and daring.
Secondly, Emily’s poems are minor miracles of precision. There isn’t a
poem in her book which does not know when to stop. She seemed to have
learned at a very early age that good poems trust their reader,
providing them with information, yes, but also with space. Some writers
can take years to learn this, but Emily apprehended it young, with
laser-like self-knowledge."
Anthony Wilson,
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