'Exceptionally brave and urgent... Moves, shocks and inspires' BERNARDINE EVARISTO
'A wonderful read from an arresting voice' DIANA EVANS
Rachel Long's vivid new collection is a study of toxic love, crisis and recovery, at once moving and whip-smart, from one of our brightest stars in poetry.
'At first you eat less because you're happy, / so fricking happy, the way you are in high summer / when you just can't because of the sun.'
Sparrow on the Rooftop tells a story of new love: the summer-like giddiness of it, the ferocity of obsession, and the stark hollowing of absence. Alongside this affair, and unleashed by its intensity, unfolds another story, half-buried, about our young narrator's uneasy relationship with her body: 'Black girls// don't get/ eating disorders./ That's a white girl/ thing.'
Desire, indulgence, denial, and transformation are some of the themes that animate this engrossing, at times frighteningly intimate, narrative collection. With fierce wit and uncommon insight, Sparrow interrogates the self and other, and the experience of self as other. These remarkable, penetrating, headlong poems chart disorder and desire, break-up and breakdown, and the hard path towards recovery, confirming Rachel Long as one of the most gifted poets of her generation.
'Gruesome and intimate, alive to the rot, funny' SABA SAMS
'Satire and play and unflinching honesty' RAYMOND ANTROBUS
| ISBN: | 9781784746582 |
| Publication date: | 11th June 2026 |
| Author: | Rachel Long |
| Publisher: | Chatto & Windus an imprint of Random House |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 80 pages |
| Genres: |
Poetry by individual poets Gender studies: women and girls Modern and contemporary poetry (c 1900 onwards) Narrative theme: Coming of age Narrative theme: Love and relationships |
'Exceptionally brave and urgent... Moves, shocks and inspires' BERNARDINE EVARISTO
'A wonderful read from an arresting voice' DIANA EVANS
Rachel Long's vivid new collection is a study of toxic love, crisis and recovery, at once moving and whip-smart, from one of our brightest stars in poetry.
'At first you eat less because you're happy, / so fricking happy, the way you are in high summer / when you just can't because of the sun.'
Sparrow on the Rooftop tells a story of new love: the summer-like giddiness of it, the ferocity of obsession, and the stark hollowing of absence. Alongside this affair, and unleashed by its intensity, unfolds another story, half-buried, about our young narrator's uneasy relationship with her body: 'Black girls// don't get/ eating disorders./ That's a white girl/ thing.'
Desire, indulgence, denial, and transformation are some of the themes that animate this engrossing, at times frighteningly intimate, narrative collection. With fierce wit and uncommon insight, Sparrow interrogates the self and other, and the experience of self as other. These remarkable, penetrating, headlong poems chart disorder and desire, break-up and breakdown, and the hard path towards recovery, confirming Rachel Long as one of the most gifted poets of her generation.
'Gruesome and intimate, alive to the rot, funny' SABA SAMS
'Satire and play and unflinching honesty' RAYMOND ANTROBUS
Sparrow on the Rooftop features in the following genres: Poetry by individual poets, Gender studies: women and girls, Modern and contemporary poetry (c 1900 onwards), Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Love and relationships
Sparrow on the Rooftop is available in Paperback
Sparrow on the Rooftop was written by Rachel Long and published by Chatto & Windus an imprint of Random House
Sparrow on the Rooftop has 80 pages
£11.69