S.K. Perry

S. K. Perry was longlisted for London’s Young Poet Laureate in 2013 and is the author of the poetry collection Curious Hands: 24 Hours in Soho. She lives in London.

Let Me Be Like Water is her first novel.

Recently I asked Perry about what she was reading. Her reply:

I've just started a PhD and - as well as trying to write a new novel - my research will centre on depictions of sex in contemporary, anglophone, fiction. This means I'm currently on the lookout for amazing novels that also have cracking sex scenes... and I'm particularly interested in fictional depictions of queer sex, and sex that is written within a feminist framework; I guess part of my research will be to work out exactly what I mean by that. At the moment I'm halfway through both Sally Rooney's new novel Normal People, and A Safe Girl To Love by Casey Plett, a collection of short stories that explore trans-womanhood. From what I've read so far, Plett's stories oscillate between archetypal coming-of-age tropes, and bold explorations of trauma and alienation; it's so clever how they tread this duality and I'm really loving it. I've been really enjoying reading short stories lately and Miranda July's collection No One Belongs Here More Than You was such a wonderful, weird read with plenty of interesting explorations of sexuality too. I read it during a week away at the sea; it was my kind of holiday read!

I'm also reading In Extremis: The Life of War Correspondent Marie Colvin. I knew Marie a bit, and it's been strange revisiting her courage and grit through reading the book. I love non-fiction; I try and read as much as I do fiction, but I end up wanting to take it all in and I read it very slowly. I also love poetry and always have a huge stack of poetry books on my bedside table. I am so excited for the release of Belinda Zhawi's poetry pamphlet Small Inheritances next month; she is such a gorgeous lyric writer who will do great things. Right now I'm reading Wayne Holloway-Smith's collection Alarum, which has brought me to tears a few times, in particular in its exploration of eating disorders and depression. Sometimes the use of metaphor is so apt and close that it's breathtakingly beautiful, at the same time as describing something awful and violent really accurately. It's a masterclass in poetic language.

Visit S.K. Perry's website.

--Marshal Zeringue