The Squirrel and the Rickety Bridge
Høvring, Mona: Ekornet og den vaklevorne bruaIn The Squirrel and the Rickety Bridge Mona Høvring works with motifs we know from the Bible stories of our childhood, from folk ballads, and young girls’ books. With gravity and sharpened whimsy, Høvring brings forth a striking short story-like poetry, where the classic allegories and stories of destiny are transformed into a distinctive and inspired text characterized by humanism, and with a clear and empathic feminist involvement.
Praise for The Squirrel and the Rickety Bridge:
”Playfulness and gravity side by side. Religiosity, Jesus, and a gathering feminist gaze. A book that lasts.”
Haugesund Avis
”Mona Høvring is distinguishable as a unique voice in Norwegian contemporary poetry. Her fifth collection, The Squirrel and the Rickety Bridge, establishes the position of a poet going her own way … Undeniably beautiful.”
Drammens Tidende
”[Høvring] distinguishes herself by a rare linguistic drive, splendid compositional ability, and an elaborate cast of characters… The poems are highly original, often funny, playful, linguistically steady and artful… A definitive high point in Høvring’s complex poetic body of work.”
VG
”Mona Høvring’s poetry is like no other Norwegian poetry. It is deceitful in a most eminent way. Childhood is never the same again after this book. … She combines childhood and death, and writes innocence and ruin into an agonizing combination – in a poetic universe that is both asleep and awake simultaneously. It is never night nor day, but both at the same time.”
Dagbladet (The 3 best books of 2010)
