With strong assertions and slight, unexpected touches, the author forms surprising connections. At times the texts can almost seem absurd in their claims, at other times so simple…
With strong assertions and slight, unexpected touches, the author forms surprising connections. At times the texts can almost seem absurd in their claims, at other times so simple that it’s intense, staggering. The poetic first-person is tormented by her shame and regret, trapped in a life of apathy and isolated rage.
Why Am I So Sad When I Am So Cute? is an unsentimental poetry collection that moves with ease between humour and deadly seriousness.
Foreign Sales Germany, Nord Verlag Sweden, It-Lit Denmark, Vild Maskine
Praise ‘Giving space to a female protagonist such as this – one who neither cares nor does or says what is expected of her – is immensely liberating, and I dare say that Lothe has latched on to a trend in Scandinavian poetry in recent years in which the protagonist makes no apologies and pulls no punches, with a first-person who lives her life, slips up, sleeps around, gets cumshots on her face, and is mildly intolerable. Though really, Lothe is just doing what male writers and poets have always done: giving space to an imperfect, sometimes gloomy, sometimes happy person – only here she is female. That in itself is a political act.’ Opulens
‘The poems portray a rawness, a sadness, and are sometimes very relatable. And I like it. I'll probably enjoy myself much more with this before it’s time to return it. [...] Recommended!’ My Criminal Mind
‘This is poetry with attitude: ironic and hurtful, nonchalant and despondent, all at the same time [...] 100% honest? It is at the very least 100% contemporary. This is how generational poems might look in the era of the selfie, wavering between self-assertion and self-hatred, disclosure and distance, with the atmosphere captured by the formulation “fanatically apathetic”. At the same time, these are timeless themes about the pains of adulthood and the sense of being a failure in the world.’Sydsvenskan
‘Ingvild Lothe is taking over as Norwegian literature’s Houellebecq girl.’Morgenbladet
‘With her debut collection, Ingvild Lothe shows us that poetry does not have to be solemn and serious. She walks the line between humour and an underlying vulnerability, and writes well about being a vulnerable young woman in a hypersexualised world.’Bergens Tidende
