A review by aftereliza
Born in a Second Language by Akosua Zimba Afiriyie-Hwedie

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review - Born in a Second Language by Akosua Zimba Afiriyie-Hwedie⁠

This review has been made possible thanks to @NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.⁠

I love the subject matter, as someone who also feels trapped between several languages and cultures, I related to it very much. I liked how the author played with shape poems throughout the collection. There was a good mix of prose poetry and I really enjoyed seeing the same phrases or images repeating themselves through the collection. ⁠

Some of my favourite poems include for those for whom this need not be translated, which is one of the strongest starts to a poetry collection I've ever read and it's full of emotion and conviction. I also enjoyed I know a place where I can spread myself out and be enough to fill a room, What my hands have learned, I am deciding which language to spend the night in, and it goes without saying. I feel like this collection was a fantastic all-around look at the experience of not belonging to one country, culture or language and the limbo state the author found herself in while living in these various places. ⁠

Born in a Second Language is out today!