Surrender: poems for healing, growth, and love

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Lately, I have been dealing with grief and heartbreak. And because I couldn't find the right words to describe them, I have felt confused, guilty, lost, and lonely. The Surrender Theory made me feel understood. Caitlin Conlon has followed a similar path to mine and has given words and meaning behind my thoughts and emotions. Throughout this book, I truly felt seen and heard. As a result, I feel a little less lonely than I did before.

I probably would have appreciated and enjoyed the collection more if it was shorter, but as it is, it was a "hmmm, no" for me. THE SURRENDER THEORY is a stunning debut and beautiful exploration of grief, of love, of loss, of growth and of everything in between. Caitlin Conlon is a true gift. Fortunately, a great friend of mine showed me The Surrender Theory. And because of that friend and this book, I am better able to understand poetry, but more importantly, I am better able to understand myself. See, I didn't understand poetry before because I was reading it through the eyes of a kid who had yet to experience true loss, grief, heartbreak, or any complex emotion for that matter. These are all feelings that are difficult to truly understand, let alone communicate to others. A simple and straightforward narrative cannot accurately display the effect these emotions have on a person. However, poetry seems to give you the freedom to express complex thoughts and emotions in whatever way you can. Authored Works: Stefanie Briar is a queer 37-year-old poet and editor from New Jersey. She is known for creating powerful, relatable, accessible poetry and prose that stands out from the crowd. Her goals are to make her readers feel seen/understood and to prove that poetry is not a dead language. Aside from her own author career, she uses her university degrees and 14 years of experience teaching English to work as a freelance editor. Poets who are publishing books of their own hire her to edit and proofread their manuscripts. What Conlon has done best in The Surrender Theory, to me, is successfully woven a myriad of poems, that present in different styles and odes to other poets or media subjects, into a fluid arc. I could feel the darkness so present in the first half of the book lifting the further along I read. As cliche as it sounds, said darkness is replaced with a hopeful sensation. Conlon and her poetry don’t necessarily replace or hide away the depression and the hopelessness of past feelings and trauma, but rather highlight how you can successfully move forward away from them, even if they are always haunting nearby.

Customer reviews

Unfortunately, Caitlin Conlon's 'The Surrender Theory' was more of the latter than anything else to me. Had I read this 10 years ago, I probably would have been obsessed with it. I too was a sad girl mourning what felt like an insurmountable loss. But now, at 31, 'The Surrender Theory' felt shallow. The title - and very first - poem, which is the one I had read and loved before I read the collection, stands out head and shoulders above the rest. A few others that I really enjoyed include 'Pareidolia', 'Nesting Doll' and 'After', and while I understand that grief does different things to us all, most of the poems about it were my least favourite of the bunch. Burn", her third book, was released on 4/18/21, and became a #1 New Release. "Burn" is bold, fiery, passionate, and powerful in its poetic journey through the multitudes of life, self, and love. Most of the book's poetry uses fire metaphors, imagery, and/or allusions. Stef cites "Burn" as the book that "put her on the map" as a modern poet.

Stefanie Briar is a queer 37-year-old poet and editor from New Jersey. She is known for creating powerful, relatable, accessible poetry and prose that stands out from the crowd. Her goals are to make her readers feel seen/understood and to prove that poetry is not a dead language. Aside from her own author career, she uses her university degrees and 14 years of experience teaching English to work as a freelance editor. Poets who are publishing books of their own hire her to edit and proofread their manuscripts. Nowadays I don’t know what to do with my hands. I write. I say your name over and over until it isn’t a word. I sit outside and weep into the daisies until memory becomes less of a burden and more of a fact.”While growing up, I never really understood poetry. The odd structure and the abstract metaphors left me confused. The dramatic tone and intense imagery felt forced and unrealistic. Irritated, I wondered why poets couldn't express their thoughts and emotions more clearly so that I could better follow them. I want to thank Caitlin Conlon for being brave enough to share her entire self. In doing so, she has not only ignited my appreciation for poetry but also made me understand my own story and how I fit into it. I received an advanced reader copy of this poetry collection from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Shout out to Central Avenue Publishing and Caitlin Conlon. I love that the poet found love after it all, and the poems to and about her partner are a lovely change of pace in this collection, but after all the death and heartache and sadness, they almost feel... Misplaced. This book is largely self-biographical, reading almost like a memoir in parts, but its major take-aways apply broadly, echoing loudly for anyone who has ever fought to protect their softness, their hopefulness in the face of a hollowing hurt.