Poetry of innocence and wonder. Poetry of darkness and deformation. The poems about girlhood experiences are daringly original. -- Daljit Nagra These poems push and pull you, making strange bedfellows of butchery, freaks, and the inner lives of girls. Her roller-coaster of vivid images threaten to tear the paper. -- Melissa Lee-Houghton I am impressed by the boldness, close to wildness, of Jen Campbell's imagination. As well as being fascinated, I take her very seriously. -- Christopher Reid

Jen Campbell's first collection The Girl Aquarium explores the realm of rotten fairy tales, the possession of body and the definition of beauty. Weaving between whispered science and circus, she turns a cracked mirror on society and asks who gets to control the twisted tales hiding in the wings.