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I Dreamed I Was an Afterthought

I Dreamed I Was an Afterthought

By Allie Duff

A sometimes satirical reflection on hope in a time of hopelessness, the poems in I Dreamed I Was an Afterthought use stubborn humour to grapple with the anxiety of moving forward during late capitalism. While many of the poems are set in Newfoundland, the book also echoes the universal experience of loss, leaving, returns, and never being able to return. The first section of the manuscript, titled “Some Disasters,” introduces real and imagined catastrophes. The St. Lawrence tidal wave, the history of resettlement, and the Muskrat Falls debacle stand next to poems that live in an imagined future where the capelin refuse to roll and snow refuses to fall. The second section is titled “I dreamed I was an afterthought.” Here, the eclectic poems turn to a more personal perspective of place, my struggles with mental illness, and a feminist exploration of familial relationships. In "Of No Returns," movement through time and space is tinged with the same lurking fear of irreversibility, a fear which has been amplified during the pandemic. There is a yearning for the “before times,” a time which may or may not exist.

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(First Poets)

9781771838894

100 pages |

Regular price $20.00 CAD
Regular price Sale price $20.00 CAD
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About the author

Allie Duff is a multidisciplinary artist from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador whose writing has been published in various Canadian literary magazines. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Memorial University (2016) and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College (2020). In 2024, Allie won NL’s Arts and Letters competition in the Senior Poetry category and received an honourable mention in the Sparks Literary Festival poetry competition. Other poetry awards include an honourable mention in Contemporary Verse 2’s 2019 Foster Poetry Prize. With friends, she co-founded Spoken Word St. John’s, a monthly poetry open mic series at the LSPU Hall. Allie also performs stand-up comedy and was featured on 2023’s Just For Laughs album “Icicle Bicycle.” I Dreamed I Was an Afterthought is her debut poetry collection.