Hard Summer
by Francisca Matos
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Set in Lisbon and its suburbs, Hard Summer is a collection of poems exploring the intricacies of memory and its complex relationship to place. Written as a fragmented memoir, the poems investigate what it means to reconcile the loss and joy of growing up, leaning on cinematic perspective and language to honour a moment in time. Hard Summer looks at the interaction between truth, feeling and memory, bringing the reader along through dull summer days and cyclical conversations, to celebratory moments and the solemn walk home.
Praise for Hard Summer
"Matos' excavation of a young girl navigating surburbia is an essential understanding of the deep root of nostalgia, and the fear of the silence that accompanies or follows it." - Gabrielle Grace Hogan
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"Matos playfully and vividly plays tribute to innocence and experience in this striking debut" - Maya C. Popa, author of The Bees Have Been Canceled and You Always Wished the Animals Would Leave
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"This book is a stunning celebration of the darkness of girlhood and the patience required to grow up. Francisca Matos is a name you need to remember" - Lucy K. Shaw, author of Waves & The Motion and editor of Shabby Doll's House