Pamela August Russell

“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”
― Dorothy Parker

If she could be bothered to roll over in her grave for anyone, I think Dorothy Parker would be amused to do so for this clever little mockery. (And if you’re not familiar—treat yourself to some Dorothy Parker now!) With pen dipped in darkest cynicism, this collection of poems often pierce the marrow or at least chip the funny bone. Oddly therapeutic as if complaining to a friend. Not everything hits but they are short so you can just move along. Makes me imagine a cluttered desk—covered in notes—written during those moments where the mind escapes the task at hand—needing to expel something creative about thoughts that shouldn’t be entertained… (más)

Forget Shakespeare. Don’t count on Donne. Shelley and Keats: banished! And there’s absolutely no poet laureate from the golden or any other age. So fawning PhDs in love with little-understood verses by long-dead writers should go elsewhere. This is poetry for the rest of us—bad poetry!


Pamela Russell’s unexalted (but thoroughly hysterical) poems mock, chide, accuse, tease, joke, undermine, point, and laugh at the world around us—and at anything that takes itself too seriously. Her non-canonical oeuvre includes: Tea For Two (A Tragedy); Nietzsche And The Ice-Cream Truck; Capitalism Can Fall Not Like I Fell For You; Inappropriately Touched By An Angel; Love Is Like A Toilet Bowl; and many more.


Who knew bad poetry could be so good?… (más)