eARC provided by NetGalley and Guernica Editions in exchange for an honest review.


“This is the waxen depth of unmarked women made of wire.”


Eerie and disturbing, A History of Touch paints images of women who are labeled "difficult" throughout history, told by the harsh brushstrokes of verses. The poems are as brutal as the way men and society treated and dehumanized these women, from Bridget Cleary and Rosemary Kennedy to various unnamed ones, maybe forgotten, but not without the lasting marks they left behind.

Even hours after reading this, I admit that I am still at a loss for words. This collection of poems is simultaneously engrossing and revolting, in a way that I didn't know could be fitting. But I think that's the allure of it: they are compelling to read because they are off-putting in the first place—the imagery Vance paints on the readers' minds through her words is clear, profound, and blood-soaked enough that they can't help but reel away at the start. I expected the poems to be visceral, but I didn't know that there were a lot of body horrors incorporated into them along with the depiction of injustices and crimes against women. While this might interest other readers, I find that this was exactly what threw me off-guard at first, making some passages difficult for me to read. This unique allure of Vance's writing, then, is what makes or breaks the collection, depending on the readers themselves and their tastes in poetry. The individual poems center around different women, most of whom I've heard nothing of prior, and some are folkloric. The insights and contexts of the pieces were lost to me, but searching on the internet provided some understanding. It turned out that there were actually historical references and notes about the women at the end of the book, which made me see the poems in a different and clearer light than before, that I had to reread some of them just to bask in the experience. Some of my favorite pieces are "Crow Theory" and "The Purported Last Words of Ruth Blay".


“Don't let my students watch, don't let the girls see. I haven't yet taught them what it means to be a woman.” Heart-wrenching in its honesty, these lines were what fully drew me in and made me realize that this poetry collection will be haunting me for a long time.


I would say that these poems cater to a specific type of reader, so I recommend this to anyone who enjoys gothic and horror poetry.


3.75 stars rounded off to 4.

Raw, Powerful, and often time so distrubing it's difficult to read.

I honestly don't even know how to begin this review. The body horror elements that are present in this selection of poems made it difficult for me read at times. If I had to reccomend one poem from this collection it would be "This Little World"

4/5 purely because of all the body horror.

I would like to thank Guernica Editions for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy through NetGalley.
Although I was intrigued by the synopsis of this poetry collection I only managed to read the first two poems before dropping it.
If you have a feminist with a strong stomach and reading about violence inflicted on women's bodies doesn't make you sick then you should give this book a try.

I’m not sure what happened with this one - it sounded fantastic and exactly what I’d be interested in. But I didn’t understand any of it - I think it went way over my head and the imagery was something i couldn’t picture? Disappointed but think it’s my fault rather than the authors fault.

A History of Touch is a gory, grimy, bitter poetry collection about the horrors of motherhood, misogyny, and mistreated women. Rife with motifs of breasts, nursing, and hair torn from the scalp, most of the poems focus on the numerous miseries that women have faced throughout history on behalf of men and the burdens placed on them by nature. The anger found in these pages will surely appeal to some readers (judging by the other reviews, it certainly has), but for me it was all too violent, too caustic, and, frankly, too gross.

I loved this poetry collection, the imagery was visceral and my favorite poems were about Sylvia Plath, Ruth Blay and one of the Radium Girls

i have found my favourite poetry collection of ALL TIME.

oh how i am so devastated that i dont have this in my hands and that i cant viciously annotate it.
erin vance has written poetry, using language like i have never seen it wielded before, to tell the remarkable stories of different women throughout history.

but it’s not the everyday cliché stories that everyone speaks about, but the specific stories, niche historical events. and half the fun of this was researching all the little details and finding more meaning in the verses. (but worry not, the author has put a historical note at the end of the book so the hidden meanings are easy to find.)

my jaw dropped after so many of these poems. some of them i had to reread to gather the full effect. this was amazing.

this comes out may 1st PLS READ IT! thank you soso much net galley and guernica editions for this arc.

i will be thinking abt this one and missing her everyday

**Thanks to NetGalley, Erin Vance, and Guernica Editions for this ARC**

A History of Touch by Erin Vance is the author's debut poetry collection and will be out May 1st, 2022.

I LOVED this collection of poetry. Vance writes poems about women throughout history and folklore who were difficult, disabled, or "hysteric". The poems are stunning without the background information but I echo other readers in saying that the true magic in these poems lay in understanding who each poem was about. The author includes a brief explanation of each poem at the end of the book, which I almost wish I had read before I started the book or as I went along.

A History of Touch is a spooky, gothic, feminist collection of unsettling poems that kept me reading into the night.

5 stars! - I loved it

Erin Emily Ann Vance is the author of the novel Advice for Taxidermists and Amateur Beekeepers (Stonehouse Publishing 2019) as well as six chapbooks of poetry. She was a recipient of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Young Artist Prize in 2017 (nominated by Aritha van Herk) and a finalist for the 2018 Alberta Magazine Awards for her short story “All the Pretty Bones.” Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in magazines and journals all over the world. Her newest poetry collection is A History of Touch, which is a profound collection of poetry about women who were ill, disabled, mad, or simply too rebellious, and the fates they faced.
Vance’s collection pulls no punches. The first poem “All the Women You’ve Ever Touched” begins
You want to leave me to rot?
Fine.

Let my hair burn into copper moss
in the forest saw off chunks of my flesh.
I am not far from the window, so
lick me fat like a silkworm.
The poems only get darker from there, and the readers are all the better for the journey.
Vance is not afraid to look history directly in the eye and retell it for what it is. A major selection of these poems are dedicated or about historical figures, real women who have lived, whether they’re famous, infamous, or otherwise. For example, the poem “Crow Theory” is dedicated to Bella Wright of the infamous “Green Bicycle Case” of 1919 England. It’s a short, direct poem, but one that holds the entire legal system accountable for its actions or inactions:
The will say a crow gorged itself to death
on my blood
stumbled into a field and died from its gluttony
before they will say
that a man could have bled me dry
The themes in this poem and others like it resonate outward, calling into question the justice that women are dealt in courts up to this day. Vance uses the horror and the mythic in her poems to not just document history, but to expose how relevant it is to modern society and its ills.
Elsewhere, Vance taps into the mythic and folkloric aspects of feminist history. For example, “Flickers” deals with images of witchcraft with lines like:
The witches are mourning
this trunk. Its tumors
tremor, a century of use.
The staunch, severed leaves
black as charred meat.
Here Vance taps into ecohorror, using the folkloric as a vehicle to explore ecological concerns and how the abuse of women, well documented by this point in the book, is similar to the ecological abuse perpetrated against the earth. The depth of Vance’s poems, and the multi-layered aspects of her poetry, cannot be overstated. There is a lot happening between these covers, and readers will learn as much as they will be terrified.
A History of Touch is a tour-de-force. It’s certainly not the first collection to document women’s history in poetry or the abuse that historical women have suffered, and it’s certainly not going to be the last. However, Vance takes these well-worn themes and pushes them in new directions, shining a light where perhaps once were only shadows and cobwebs, which is what readers should expect any poet to do. These poems tackle famous subjects, to be sure, but also relatively unknown subjects as well, or subjects known only to specialized historians. Vance has delved deep into these areas and written some magnificent poems that will horrify readers with the actions people, past and present, are capable of committing against one another. Vance then steeps the collection in a heavy dose of myth and folklore, creating a web of imagery that is tight and haunting. This is an incredible collection of poetry, and horror readers will thoroughly enjoy it.

Difficult women are at the core of Erin Vance's poetry collection "A History of Touch," a literary journey about women in folklore and history who were ill, disabled, or otherwise labeled as "hysteric."

If you're expecting a particularly touchy-feely collection of poetry, "A History of Touch" may not satisfy as it aims as much for the mind as it does the heart and it demands a commitment to thought and contemplation. Appreciating "A History of Touch" is made easier by a knowledge of women's history, though Vance has aided in that effort at book's end with at least brief notes giving foundation to the majority of her work here.

"A History of Touch" is described as discussing an aspect of or a moment in a woman’s life, connecting these moments to different aspects of embodiment and the natural world. "A History of Touching" is an examination of women vilified or left behind for their strength or their weakness.

One's own history will likely help determine which poems resonate most deeply. While it would seem that "A History of Touch" is most targeted toward women, it's easily appreciated by a universal audience and this adult male with significant disabilities had no problem connecting with Vance's material.

The title poem resonated deeply, though I'll confess that's as much because if I were to have a life word "touch," or perhaps tenderness, would be it. I also connect with more confessional poems like "Bloodletting" and "Whiskers." The biographical poetry, on the other hand, didn't as deeply resonate and some of the experimental works left me with mixed responses. "Projections of a Glass Womb" is nothing short of remarkable. As someone who grew up with the story of Rosemary Kennedy, I found myself deeply moved by "Rosemary's Lobotomy." There are still others that resonate more deeply once a deeper understanding is provided.

At times thought provoking and other times immersive in its imagery, "A History of Touch" is a memorable collection providing voice to women who in history were so often denied theirs. Stimulating both intellect and emotion, "A History of Touch" is a sublime poetry choice for those who understand and appreciate women's history and its great history of diverse voices and experiences.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Poetry feeds the soul. So beautifully written.😍

A haunting, sometimes unsettling and horrifyingly beautiful set of poems by Erin Vance, A History of Touch is a tribute to the women in history who were hunted or haunted by the society. I could feel the references drawn from Plath and later, Plath was mentioned too. Vance recites with utmost beauty but still leaves you alarmed. An absolute gem.

Rating: 4/5
(Gifted a copy on NetGalley in exchange for a review)

Teeming with body horror and injustices throughout the ages, “A History of Touch” was a vivid collection of poems. Best understood as stories of horror done by and to women throughout history, I found Vance’s poetry to be particularly unpleasant, in the best way, to read. It is worth noting that notes on the historical references can be found in the back and the added context improves the poems.

I love poems with dark imagery and a more disturbing outlook so this collection was perfect for me. I loved it! It had everything and more that I want when reading poetry. Overall this poetry was disturbingly beautiful and I would fully recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc in exchange for an honest review!

"Holiness / is a slippery fish. / We are the scales flaking into the fire. // You never believed us in the first place."

A really interesting collection on the scorned, misunderstood, misaligned, etc. women of history. I really wish the notes were added on the poems page! Though I think it is definitely interesting reasoning them without context. Really evocative imagery.

This collection sounded like it was made to appeal to me specifically, but unfortunately didn't live up to my expectations. More body-horror-based that I had anticipated.

Unrelated to the content, but the Netgalley ebook was very difficult and frustrating to read in the app (the size formatting was off).

Erin Emily Ann Vance's work is powerful, exploring the lives and pain of mad and disabled women throughout history. Her work cuts deep and is beautiful, with imagery that is at once lovely and ugly, turning in context. Her use of repetition is haunting, and lovely, and every choice that she's made is evident in her craft. I received an advance review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"like a tree
I'm losing my leaves"

This is a dark (Disturbing) book of poems and I really enjoyed it. It really isn't for the faint of heart like the ones tilted where the house stood and the Moorhouse for example.
I quite enjoy this book.
These poems are written very well. You can really picture what's being said even if you don't won't to.


I wasn't expecting the poems that were in this. I don't know what I was expecting but not these. I couldn't put this down.

I read poetry for two reasons: To be comforted or to be disturbed. A History of Touch by Erin Vance surprisingly delivered in both areas at once. It vows to showcase stories of women in folklore and history who were ill, disabled, vilified or labeled ‘hysteric' and it delivered just that and more. I must confess that I'm not very familiar with most of the women that this book mentioned, but really, you need not know them first in order to resonate with their stories told through these poems. In fact, your curiosity for them will spark further after reading, which I believe is the purpose of this collection.

Because the book explores different styles of poetry and is separated into three sections, I think that the best way to read this is to read it slowly, allowing yourself to reflect on a few poems before moving forward. Only then will these poems speak to you in the way that they should. When I read the first poem, “All the Woman You've Ever Touched”, my first thought was that it—its form and imagery—reads like a Sylvia Plath poem. A couple of pages later and Plath herself was referenced, so I'm guessing the author is perhaps influenced by her in some ways. Not all of these reads like that though, but it was a strong opening. I would say that the longer poems are not the strongest, but I loved this collection as a whole anyway. The concept of this is very interesting too, which I know would spark curiosity among many readers. Personally, I would recommend this book to those who love poetry collections that use vivid, intimate imagery that borders the themes of gore and folklore among other things, all while incorporating different elements of various poetry styles.

Thank you, NetGalley and Guernica Editions, for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review the ARC for A History of Touch by Erin Vance!

A History of Touch by Erin Emily Ann Vance comes out on the 1st of May, this year. This book is an attempt to bear witness to difficult women throughout history, who were brushed off as hysterical or witches, which means we range from Cassandra to Rosemary Kennedy; from the lobotomized to those burned at the stake.

While the premise is fantastic, I don't actually like most of the poems in this book. I just couldn’t get into them and they didn’t make me feel anything, even though these are women who I should want to feel for.'

That being said, there were definitely some poems that I liked, such as Confession. The speaker here is Elsie Wright. Elsie and her sister Frances were responsible for the Cottingley Fairies hoax; 5 pictures that they used to try and prove that fairies were real. While Elsie confessed that all were stages, Frances maintained, until the end, that the last one was real.

According to Wikipedia, the entire thing may have been a joke, with the girls too embarrassed to admit that the pictures were a prank when Sir Arthur Conlon Doyle (YES THE SHERLOCK HOLMES DUDE) thought they were real.

That goes to show that as long as news has existed, human beings have always had a tendency to believe the fake kind.

That goes to show that as long as news has existed, human beings have always had a tendency to believe the fake kind.


"It is said that witches ride in eggshells downriver
to deliver babies out of wedlock, under cover of night,
that witches turn into hares to escape the grasping fingers
of men with scythes for eyes and briars for tongues.

Of the truthfulness of these two things I do not know,
but I do know that when they ducked Grace Sherwood in
the water, with a thirteen-pound bible tied to her neck,
she sputtered to the surface
and spat in the faces of her accusers."

~ The Mouth of Lynnhaven