I think we should be louder at Dyke March, by Sophia Carroll

Poetry, chapbook, 48 pages, illustrated, from Bottlecap Features.

I think we should be louder at Dyke March is a collection born out of the chaos and upheaval of a Saturn return. The twin blows of a startling diagnosis and the end of a long-term relationship catalyze a search for love, and self-love, amid trauma, illness, and grief.

In this, flash writer and poet Sophia Carroll’s debut chapbook, limerence and dating disasters become opportunities to probe family histories, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and formative memories. I think we should be louder at Dyke March is a hybrid of poetry, prose, and pieces in between—and as it weaves between genres, it weaves together diffuse inspirations, from Marie Howe to slam poetry, from alternative spirituality to zoological fact sheets, to achieve catharsis and clarity.

These pieces find many reasons to be angry—trauma, illness, avoidant behavior—but they also find grace in the kindness and acceptance that comes, sometimes from unexpected quarters, and most importantly from oneself. I think we should be louder at Dyke March is an assertion and celebration of identity, the self-knowledge and self-possession that comes out of the crucible of suffering—culminating in a primal scream that, like the Three of Swords reversed in a tarot reading, is a release of pain and, ultimately, an affirmation of power.

Sophia Carroll (she/they) is an analytical chemist and writer. She is the co-founder of M E N A C E, a magazine for the literary weird (menace-mag.com). Find her on Substack at Torpor Chamber (torporchamber.substack.com) and on Bluesky @torpor-chamber.bsky.social, where she posts a poem every weekday.

About the Illustrator: Amita S (@volapardus) is an illustrator with a love for vintage-inspired and atmospheric art, primarily with a background in fantasy, publishing and concept art.