Fiona Benson — Mama Cockroach, I Love You

Do you experience disgust at the sight of certain insects? Which ones? Fiona Benson teaches us how to see. 

Fiona Benson is the author of several poetry collections including Bright Travellers (Jonathan Cape 2014), Vertigo & Ghost (Jonathan Cape 2019), and Ephemeron (Jonathan Cape 2022). She is the winner of the 2015 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for Bright Travellers and the Forward Prize for Vertigo & Ghost. In 2019, Fiona collaborated with sound artists Mair Bosworth and Eliza Lomas for an 18-month, singing exploration of the wonders of the insect world as part of the University of Exeter’s Urgency Arts Commissions. The series of workshops culminated in a public anthology of poetry sound pieces called “In the Company of Insects.”

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

We’re pleased to offer Fiona Benson’s poem, and invite you to connect with Poetry Unbound throughout this season.

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