Released May 31st, 2024 // 58 pages // 978-1-916938-22-9 // RRP £8.99
Rein It In is a brilliant pamphlet that examines freedom of youthful self-indulgence and recklessness as well as the inevitable reckoning that can come with that. There is something thrillingly immediate about these poems that makes Héloïse de Satgé’s words feel like they are written about events still happening. de Satgé deftly captures moments in time that are both personal and universal to anyone who has ever felt a sense of disorientation and uncertainty when coming of age. The writing is unapologetically political and speaks to us in a language that is both relatable and startlingly fresh. There’s a sense of freedom in the way the poet’s voice leaps between slang and proper language, and the effect is a poetry of vitality, of life lived and breathed. These poems demand our attention.
PRAISE for Rein It In:
The daring directness of Héloïse de Satgé’s verse captures the mess of life with drink, sex and yoga, with hope and violation, and ultimately with empowerment. She’s an exciting new poet who fuses social media, page and performance to create a dynamic and memorable poetry.
— Daljit Nagra
Rein It In is immediately and intensely readable, but reveals its depth gradually throughout the sequence. Whether in indignities coolly observed or tentative steps towards trust, de Satgé captures the subtext of what’s said and unsaid, the chaos of being ‘a magnet for everything good and bad’, but always with the joy and the risk of being fully alive to the world, the sheer value of a moment you wish would last. There are delightful inflections of the New York School and the British Poetry Revival, but this is a poet who can wear influences lightly, creating something new, resilient, personal and resonant.
— Luke Kennard
Rein It In examines girlhood experiences many of us will recognise. The way we hold our keys in our hand, the sting of awkward sex, the joy of the ‘hot girl walk’. But all the while, this pamphlet invites us to question what ‘girlhood’ actually means.
Are the more excruciating rites of passage - the unwanted advances of men in dodgy Wetherspoons, the expensive turmeric detoxes, the lack of orgasms something we must endure? Or can we write ourselves into a different reality?
Rein It In is a confident debut that throws up big questions by exploring the intimate, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
— Talia Randall
Prepare for a world where speech has its own rules. Sentences take their own turns, thoughts follow new structures and phrases become their own idioms. What we get is a joyful yet sincere rush of conversation, entwined with a rare personability that makes it feel like the poet is speaking directly to you, over a table of pints in Spoons. On display here is a bold honouring of moments, made all the more powerful by de Satgé’s skill in blending everyday speech with loaded soundbites. The result is something strikingly relatable. A voice not to be reined in.
— Jasmine Gardosi
ABOUT Héloïse de Satgé:
Héloïse de Satgé is a poet and facilitator from London. She completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Birmingham. She runs both a regular poetry night and co-runs a monthly poetry workshop. She also provides poetry mentoring. This is her first poetry pamphlet.
