100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Fast Overnight NZ-wide Delivery 🚀

Peach Pig

The debut collection from the Young People’s Laureate for London, Forward Prize-shortlisted author
4.05 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 234 ratings, 30 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Peach Pig is a compelling debut poetry collection by Cecilia Knapp that delves into themes of motherlessness, grief, and the complex relationships between women and their bodies. Through candid and powerful verse, Knapp explores the lasting impact of loss, the struggles of growing up in a challenging seaside town, and the tender memories of her brother’s battle with addiction and premature death. With a blend of humour, mischief, and emotional depth, the poems navigate shame, love, anxiety, and hope, offering a vivid and unflinching portrayal of resilience and the search for language to express the inexpressible.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Peach Pig. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This collection will resonate deeply with readers interested in contemporary poetry that examines personal trauma, family relationships, and women’s experiences with raw honesty and lyricism. It suits lovers of emotionally potent verse and those seeking reflections on loss, resilience, and identity.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Peach Pig is the debut collection of poetry by the former young people's laureate Cecilia Knapp, as she grapples with grief and the detachment young women today feel. Full of Cecilia's vivacious hope, persistence and direct, deadpan humour, hers is a hugely relatable and bold new voice.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
Cecilia Knapp is a great writer. I love her — KAE TEMPEST

In her devastatingly powerful debut collection, Cecilia Knapp examines the experience of motherlessness and its lasting impact, as well as the lessons passed between generations of women.

These poems explore women's complicated relationship with their bodies, with sex, and with shame as she traverses the violence of romantic love, but also employs humour and mischief, a wry reclaiming of power.

We hear stories of a challenging childhood in a seaside town, a girl growing up, getting out and reckoning with the guilt of being 'one of these people now.'

The collection also offers a look at Knapp's close relationship with her older brother, his struggles with addiction and, eventually, his death. With tenderness, she remembers him and unpacks the unique grief that comes after a suicide.

Peach Pig is a candid and unflinching look at loss, an attempt to find a language for it. It grapples with feelings of anxiety, insecurity and displaced anger; but it is also a collection full of dreams, hope and vibrant persistence, a willingness to question and to carry on.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Cecilia Knapp is celebrated by writers such as Kae Tempest and Kerry Hudson for her rare talent and elegant, powerful expression. Critics highlight the collection’s arresting frankness and emotional weight, especially in poems about Knapp's personal losses. The Observer named Peach Pig their Poetry Book of the Month, praising Knapp’s light touch amid heavy themes and the collection’s blend of generosity, melancholy, and hope.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781472156815

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 October 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Corsair

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 110g

Pages: 96

About the Author

Cecilia Knapp is a poet and novelist and the Young People's Laureate for London 2020/2021. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward prize for best single poem. She is the winner of the 2021 Ruth Rendell award and has been shortlisted for both the Rebecca Swift Women's Prize and the Outspoken Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in The White Review, Granta, Wasafiri, Popshot, Ambit, Magma and bath magg. She curated the anthology Everything is Going to be Alright: Poems for When you Really Need Them, published by Trapeze in 2021. Her debut novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press. She teaches poetry and creative writing in a number of settings and lives in London.

Also by Cecilia Knapp

View all
  • Lack
    Cecilia Knapp beautifully captures the experience of contemporary womanhood in this lyrical and insightful novel. A genuine triumph — ELIZA CLARK Poignant to the bone. Lack is both masterfully, poetically complex and beautifully easy to read — GEMMA CAIRNEY In the quiet, lonely hours of the middle of the night, a woman scrolls social media on her phone. Babies are...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Arts & Culture

View all
  • Dylan's Pick
    Bold Types
    A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...
    Hardback
    $5999
    Elsewhere:
    $7000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Home Again
    Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoir Home Again.This is more than a rock story. Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    New Release
    Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $5299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Did I Ever Tell You This?
    In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    Hardback
    $7299
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • They Bloom Because of You
    Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3600
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Iliad
    When Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017—revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was "fresh, unpretentious and lean" (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)—critics lauded it as "a revelation" (Susan Chira, New York Times) and "a cultural landmark" (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an...
    By Homer
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Backorder
    Ships mid September
  • Buy to Win
    On Sale
    14% off
    Leaves of Grass
    A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...
    Hardback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Devotions
    New York Times Bestseller, chosen as Oprah's 'Books That Help Me Through' for Oprah's Book Club Chosen by Poetry Book Society as their special commendation 'No matter where one starts reading, Devotions offers much to love, from Oliver's exuberant dog poems to selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive, and Dream Work, one of her exceptional collections. Perhaps more important,...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    The Odyssey
    The The Odyssey by Homer is a timeless epic that chronicles the adventures of the legendary Greek hero, Odysseus, as he endeavours to return home to Ithaca following the conclusion of the Trojan War. This monumental journey spans ten arduous years, during which Odysseus encounters a myriad of natural and supernatural challenges. From shipwrecks and ferocious battles to formidable monsters...
    By Homer
    Hardback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    37% off
    Great Writers and the Cats who Owned Them
    Throughout history, cats and writers have bonded together in a magical combination of comfort, companionship and inspiration. The famous authors featured here range from Samuel Johnson, whose cat Hodge dined on oysters, and Edward Lear, whose charismatic cat Foss was missing half his tail, to Margaret Mitchell, L. M. Montgomery and Dorothy L. Sayers, who rescued her kitten Blitz from...
    Hardback
    $2500
    Usually:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Beautiful Chaos
    The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...
    Paperback
    $2900
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.