I May Be Stupid But I'm Not That Stupid

Selima Hill grew up in a family of painters in farms in England and Wales, and has lived in Dorset for the past 35 years. She received a Cholmondeley Award in 1986, and was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Exeter University in 2003-06. She won first prize in the Arvon International Poetry Competition with part of The Accumulation of Small Acts of Kindness (1989), one of several extended sequences in Gloria: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2008), which also includes work from Saying Hello at the Station (1984), My Darling Camel (1988), A Little Book of Meat (1993), Aeroplanes of the World (1994), Violet (1997), Bunny (2001), Portrait of My Lover as a Horse (2002), Lou-Lou (2004) and Red Roses (2006). Violet was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was shortlisted for all three of the UK’s major poetry prizes, the Forward Prize, T.S. Eliot Prize and Whitbread Poetry Award. Bunny won the Whitbread Poetry Award, was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was also shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Lou-Lou and The Hat were Poetry Book Society Recommendations. Her most recent collections from Bloodaxe are The Hat (2008); Fruitcake (2009); People Who Like Meatballs (2012), shortlisted for both the Forward Poetry Prize and the Costa Poetry Award; The Sparkling Jewel of Naturism (2014); Jutland (2015), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation which was shortlisted for the 2015 T.S. Eliot Prize and was earlier shortlisted for the Roehampton Poetry Prize; The Magnitude of My Sublime Existence (2016), shortlisted for the Roehampton Poetry Prize 2017; and Splash like Jesus (2017). Her 19th collection, I May Be Stupid But I'm Not That Stupid, was published by Bloodaxe in 2019.

Selima Hill's Jutland has an astounding vivacity. Hill is a complete original whose body of work is unique in British poetry and this volume is an example of her at her best. Jutland consists of two extended sequences: Advice on Wearing Animal Prints, a kaleidoscope of shifting perspectives presenting the character Agatha, and Sunday Afternoons at the Gravel-pits, portraying a little girl and her father. Each poem tells an uncomfortable truth, through fireworks of surreal images. Every image is a surprise, sometimes funny, usually shocking, but at the same time archetypal as a brand new fairy-tale, and all this is achieved with crystalline brevity.

• Elective Mute19 The Fire19 Thousands upon Thousands of Beetles19 Elastic20 The Bear20 It Seems a Shame to Scream as Loud as Possible20 I’m Sorry But I Think I Might Be Real21 Summer Days21 There’s More to Life than Swimming21 Death and the Smell of Almonds22 Coconut22 Dumb23 The Wedding-cake23 PLEASE CARRY DOGS23 Cows in Dreams24 Rubber Bands24 DEPTH CHANGE24 Them25 My Mother25 My Head25 Chatty26 Made Entirely of Roses26 Tiddlywinks26 My Darling Spiders27 Football27 My First Boyfriend27 If It Gets Too Noisy28 My Wettened Balaclava28 My Second Boyfriend28 Blue Murder29 Rubies29 Snouts29 Comfort30 Sweetcorn30 Cocoa30 Fear31 The Catastrophic Driving Lesson31 Watches31 Other People32 Rubber Cow32 Purple Eel-grass32 To Disentangle Wool33 Happiness33 How To Smile33 Telephone Numbers34 Convivial34 The Slowness of the Slow34 Electricity35 You and Me35 Coffee?35 Queen36 Conversation in a Sheep Field36 Having Fun36 Seventeen Sheep37 Children and Adults37 Rothko and Mints37 My Third Boyfriend’s Sunbed38 Tickles38 Praise and Dust38 Arson39 OK, OK, OK39 Aphid39 Hazelnuts40 The Woman in the Changing-room and Me40 She Follows Me Around and Upsets Me40 In Love with Roger Federer41 Swallow41 Black and White Buttons41 Why I Like Fish42 People Who Wear Bobble-hats42 The Huggers42 Camping43 Grab a Wrap43 Simple Dunes43 Skin44 Havoc and Graciousness44 Kangaroo44 How to Sparkle45 A Bird on a Cow45 Empathy, Empathy, Empathy45 Potato46 Octopuses46 A Person with a Saw and Some Chocolate My Mother and Me on the Eve of the Chess Championships49 My Mother’s Underwear49 My Mother on a Rock with a Sketchbook49 The Precious Moments of My Mother’s Life50 My Mother’s Handkerchiefs50 My Mother’s Jeans50 My Mother’s Powder51 My Mother in the Shoe Shop51 My Mother in Her Nightdress51 My Mother in the Drawing-room52 My Mother in August52 My Mother’s Petticoat52 My Mother in the Studio53 My Mother’s Omelettes53 My Mother and Me in the Library53 My Mother in a Swimsuit54 My Mother’s Husband54 My Mother’s New Clogs54 My Mother on a Mountain-top55 My Mother on Holiday55 My Mother’s Mother55 My Mother Keeps Bees56 My Mother’s Hat56 My Mother’s Hair56 My Mother and the Great Dane57 My Mother with Flour on Her Hands57 My Mother and the Snails57 My Mother’s Book58 My Mother’s Shoes58 My Mother’s Washing58 My Mother at the Tennis Courts59 My Mother Like a Bird59 My Mother at the House in Gortahork59 My Mother Plays Strip-Jack-Naked60 My Mother in Hangzhou60 My Mother and Small Children 61 My Mother and Australia61 My Mother, Normally Such a Sweet Person62 My Mother in the Kitchen62 My Mother’s Mortal Panic62 My Mother by the Side of the Road63 My Mother’s Ankles63 My Mother’s Sponge63 This Is How I Write About My Mother64 My Mother and the Oceans64 My Mother’s Car65 My Mother’s Purse65 My Mother and Flamingos66 My Mother’s Silverware66 My Mother Plays Charades66 My Mother among the Butterflies67 My Mother and the Sound of Chartreuse67 My Mother in the Car Park68 My Mother’s Gloominess68 My Mother and the Rabbit69 My Mother like a Dress Made of Pins69 My Mother at the Open-air Swimming-pool70 My Mother and the History of Art70 My Mother’s Mattress71 My Mother and the Sea71 My Mother and Me on the Eve of the Chess Championships71 Water for My Mother72 My Mother and Men72 My Mother’s Elegance73 My Mother’s Doctor73 My Mother at Night74 My Mother in the Bath74 My Mother in Heaven Fishtank77 My Brother and the Chocolates77 My Brother’s Pipe77 My Brother at Night78 My Brother’s Shoulders78 My Brother’s Fish78 My Brother and Santa Claus79 My Brother’s Party79 My Brother’s Shoes79 My Brother’s Tie80 My Brother’s Hands80 My Brother in Tennis Shorts80 My Brother as a Maybug81 My Brother’s Patients81 My Brother’s Papers81 My Brother’s Mother82 My Brother’s Bacon82 My Brother’s Door82 My Brother’s Voice83 My Brother’s Eggs83 My Brother’s Jolly Side83 My Brother’s Questions84 My Brother on the Lawn84 My Brother’s Flute84 My Brother’s Chair85 My Brother on My Wedding Day85 My Brother’s Eyes85 My Brother’s Nose86 My Brother’s Spectacles86 My Brother’s Heart86 At Home with My Brother Lambchop89 An Elderly Silver-haired Gentleman89 The Tulips89 The Tennis Players90 The Chandelier90 The Swan90 The Walking-stick91 The Taxi91 The Telephone91 The Man Next Door92 The Pigeons92 The Forest92 Girls93 The Window93 The Perfume of His Fabulous Pomade93 The Jack Russell Terrier94 The Doctors94 The Fly94 Cutlery95 The Bandages95 The Kitten95 The Hornet96 The Restaurant96 The Nurse96 The Patient97 The Lily97 Because He Never Sleeps97 His Hairy Ears98 The Lamb98 The Pear98 Visitors99 The Bucket99 The River99 The Cow100 Suddenly One Morning100 The Tall House The Boxer Klitschko103 The Little Pond103 The Picnic103 My Cow and Fish Dream104 The House-mistress’s Chow104 The Elephant House104 My Grandfather’s Biscuit105 When My Diamond-studded Sisters Scream105 My Hamster, Concrete105 Jelly Beans106 What I Saw in the Changing-Rooms106 Why They Wear Bikinis106 The Waterfall107 On Holiday with My Mother and Two Sisters107 The Regulars107 Goose108 What My Mother Says and What She Does108 The Weekend at the Lake108 Stranger109 Underwater109 The Egg109 Matron110 The Pool in Winter110 Selflessly Making Me Hot Meals111 My Mother’s Ironing-board111 The Man I Didn’t Know111 Eating Cake outside Europe’s Biggest Swimming-pool112 Girls Who Disobey112 Meeting My Uncle for the First Time112 My Uncle’s Blanket113 Breakfast at My Uncle’s113 Everywhere You Go There Is Sea114 A Love of Horses114 Magnetism114 My Uncle in the Shower115 My Uncle’s Kippers115 My Uncle’s Bread-slicer115 My Uncle’s Morris Traveller116 My Uncle’s Boathouse116 My Uncle’s Newfoundlands116 The Mermaid117 My Uncle’s Sunroom117 My Uncle Sandwiches117 The Relationships Between Numbers118 Heaven119 Shoes119 The Shop119 The Smallest of the Aunts120 Walking to the Boathouse120 The Tiny Sunhat121 If I Want to Be a Hippopotamus121 The Yacht122 Take the Little Boat122 What My Mother Wanted Helpless with Laughter125 Ankles125 Arm126 Armpits126 Belly126 Biceps127 Body127 Body Parts128 Blood128 Bone129 Bottoms129 Brain129 Breastbone130 Breasts130 Calves130 Cheeks131 Chin131 Collarbone132 Crotch132 Cuticles132 Ears133 Elbows133 Eye133 Eyelashes134 Eyelids134 Face134 Feet135 Finger135 Fingernails135 Fringe136 Groin136 Hair136 Hands137 Head137 Hearts137 Heels138 Hymen138 Iris138 Jaw139 Kidney139 Knees139 Lanugo140 Lips140 Lungs140 Muscles141 Navel141 Neck141 Nerves142 Nipples142 Nose142 Nostrils143 Penis143 Ribcage143 Saliva144 Shoulder-blades144 Shin144 Skull145 Soul145 Spine146 Teeth146 Thighs146 Throat147 Thumbs147 Toes147 Tongue148 Veins148 Vocal Cords148 Womb149 Wrists149 Wristbone