The Butterfly Effect

Reviews

Hawthorne's verses reverberate with the cumulative effect of historical lesbian lives, picking up momentum and sweeping the reader along in a torrent of ideas and artifacts that may at first appear chaotic, but which are brilliantly synthesized to illustrate the potential global impact of lesbian culture.

—Carolyn Gage, Lambda Literary

The Butterfly Effect is an enchanting collection of profound poetry …each poem is breathtaking in its imagery, emotionality, creativity and political consciousness.

—Chelsey Clammer, Feminist Review

'The Butterfly Effect shines when read aloud.  It doubles as a quirky reference book, with tantalising factual morsels ... The occasional irregularity in this beautiful and original work should be appreciated as an indicator of a hand-made product from an ancient culture geared for the connoisseur of language and ideas.' 

—Dawn Cohen, Australian Book Review

'A collection of poetry rich in subjects, references and language.'

—Campus Bookseller and Publisher

'From the physical sciences comes the theory that all life is interconnected, that even the gentle movement of a butterfly’s wing can connect to vast and distant changes and consequences. The pages of this book are like those frail wings; marks on delicate paper that connect and relate … Woven into her beautiful lines about discovery and community, the destruction of life, cruelty and the intimacy of her mother’s death, Hawthorne is telling us that love and courage do triumph; love in all its forms, including the punishable love of lesbians. Only connect and the understanding will spread; we have beauty to contemplate in these poems, but the thread of urgency, of the necessity of witness is strong and insinuating. Be enchanted, be moved but also the poems speak - acknowledge and be moved to action.' 

—Theresa Wolfwood, Amazon.com

'Reading the poems felt almost as though I was trespassing into a hidden society. Although I have lived as a lesbian for over a decade I was ignorant of the many metaphors for lesbian love and life that Susan uncovers. In deliberately revealing the once secret language of butterflies, roses, colours and shapes she is introducing the reader to an intimate lesbian reality. For this reason these poems should be read by people of all sexual orientations, as they are an attempt to bring us to a point of shared understanding.' 

—Ruth McNair, Postgraduate Review

'[The poems] are anything but typical; they are poignant postmodern echoes of a frustration with an intolerant past… I, for one, feel both enlightened and inspired for reading it through–three times. And I am still savouring the taste that lingers on my tongue.'

—Heather Taylor Johnson, Wet Ink

‘I already loved Susan Hawthorne's poetry, her critical theory works, her experimental aerials, her lesbian energy in the world. But still you could have knocked me over with a butterfly when I read this latest collection. Here she has opened up the mosaic form to all levels of lived experience with new confidence and fragility, moving in all ways to the heart of matter, the edge of experience and the breath of tomorrow. This intense new collection gathers the accelerating parts and shoots through. More love coming.’ 

—Suzanne Bellamy