'Joanne Limburg's Alas is a marvel of modern wit and prophetic courage. From within a medieval well in Norwich, souls – or rather, bones – speak to the poet. For they share Ashkenazi Jewish DNA. Unquiet aunties call her by her name. These 22-line poems are a piercing joy, rigorous, mobile, articulate. Limburg leans into the Hebrew acrostic tradition of Lamentations, unfurls genome sequences, and collages the bizarre dicta of history written about, around, despite, and over the spirit and flesh. Who actually said what? Why are they in charge? Are they? Limburg's rib-aching poems reckon with the voices that would shape 'their' and 'our' stories. A needed book of a kind that readers have been calling for, even if we did not hope that it could come true.' — Anthony Vahni Capildeo

'Alas is a book of witness, presence, incantation and deep history. These brilliantly measured poems are a contemporary Book of Lamentations, using the Hebrew alphabet as a motif of totality, of the fullest expression of grief possible, of the complete weathering of an ordeal from an exile to a restoration, of the magical potency of letters to afford protection, consolation and healing. What Limburg has accomplished is unprecedented – consistent with its Biblical Hebrew original, Alas merges the personal and collective in its story-telling to dispel othering and create a place of sanctuary.' — Rachael Boast

'I am in awe of Joanne Limburg's Alas. It's a collection that is at once formally inventive, rigorous in how it balances Ashkenazi myth and memory, and sharp in its cross-examination of exile and belonging. It's deeply rooted in its excavations of the past, while speaking urgently to now. At points it left me breathless, and struggling to breathe, such was its impact on me. Clever, coruscating, compassionate – and above all, compelling – Alas is astonishing in its achievement.' — Rishi Dastidar

'Her unflinching honesty and compelling subject matter offer much to savour in this collection.' — Suzannah V. Evans, Times Literary Supplement [on The Autistic Alice]

‘Joanne Limburg’s The Oxygen Man is an honest, difficult lurch through the aftermath of the suicide of her brother… This pamphlet expresses a “life goes on” sensibility alongside a grappling with true grief.’ – Rachael Allen, Poetry London

'This moving collection delves into the death of Limburg’s brother, then her own experience growing up with undiagnosed Asperger’s... The Autistic Alice is a touching insight into Limburg’s experiences of both grief and neurodivergence, and demonstrates the powerful way poetry can be used to explore those themes.' – Oxford Poetry Library (Book of the Week)

Joanne Limburg was born in 1970 in London. She won an Eric Gregory Award in 1998 and published her first collection, Femenismo, with Bloodaxe in 2000. Since then, there have been two further collections: Paraphernalia (2007), which was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and The Autistic Alice (2017). Her fourth book of poetry, the sequence Alas, is published by Bloodaxe in 2027. Her other work includes the non-fiction books The Woman Who Thought Too Much, Small Pieces and Letters to My Weird Sisters, as well as the novel A Want of Kindness, all of which have been published by Atlantic Books. She has also produced a collection of poetry for children, Bookside Down, with Salt Publishing.