The butterfly house

Following her much-celebrated pamphlet, Flamingo, Kathryn Bevis’s debut, The Butterfly House, tells the story of a life before and after a late-stage cancer diagnosis.

These poems examine both life and death, encompassing experiences, terrible and sublime, as in her Forward Prize-shortlisted poem, ‘My body tells me she’s filing for divorce’. The collection, divided into two sections, ‘After’ and ‘Before’, contrasts the ghost-train of diagnosis, its spooks and cobwebs waiting at every turn, with all that came before.

Above all, these poems attest to the enduring power of a life lived in gratitude for love.

Through remarkable and stunning metaphors, Bevis beautifully holds together the fact of mortality with the joy of being alive.