TW: The book and, to a lesser extent, this review discuss themes of filicide (child murder), self-harm, child abuse, mental illness, ableism, anti-Indigenous racism, colonialism and misogyny.

AJ Dolman is an author I’m quite honored to have met in person a few times; they and I are both members of the underrated Ottawa literary/poetry community, and I bought this book at VerseFest last year when she was reading from it. Of course, like almost every book nerd I know, I’ve got a TBR longer than the St. Lawrence; but I wanted to start off 2025 with a bang. (Plus, every year, I try to reaffirm my commitment to indie and queer-authored creative works; this year I’m trying to make sure at least 80% of what I review is independently published, queer or both.)

First of all, Dolman is an absolute genius with wordplay. Crazy / Mad is written from an explicitly neurodivergent perspective (I believe ADHD + bipolar, but I heavily suspect I’m projecting, so don’t take that as any sort of actual commentary or factual input!) and the way free association, deliberately unresolved sentences and redefining terms are used, especially in poems like “Atheism”, is stunning.

Your the isn’t
my the is the
only the that stands
before hiss and hearse
–Atheism, pg 5, AJ Dolman

This also makes these poems a sensory delight to read out loud. Even ones where I’m fairly certain I’m missing quite a lot of either personal or historical context (“Somatic indicators” and “Memory loss” are the two most potent examples for me) are such vivid, fascinating images that I don’t really feel like I’m missing out; I’m deeply curious about their story, but it’s just as engaging to fill in that gap and wonder about it in between words that are so carefully and precisely chosen.

The pacing of this book is also excellent. The more I venture into longer-form poetry and poetry book creation, the more I appreciate how difficult it is to keep a balance of tones; trying to keep thematic consistency without having your reader tap out. Dolman’s poems never linger too much on the same territory for too long. Once there’s a few about communication, then it’s about sexuality and longing; then there’s one about a real murder (Andrea Yates was one I had to Google, especially with the foreboding of the poem, but I almost feel like I could have guessed a lot of what I read from the poem itself. Now that’s good writing.) and another about a member of the French Resistance. There’s humor both light-hearted (quotes from their son) and darker (the absolutely devastating read of Canada that is “Delusions of grandeur”). Just when I was starting to feel like I needed to put it down for a break, I was finished; and I’m someone with a much heavier stamina for poetry than most people, which makes this the perfect size for someone who wants to pick up and put down a book a few times but not get completely sidetracked before finishing it.

If you’re interested in getting a copy of Crazy / Mad, you can get a paperback here; or you can follow AJ Dolman on Instagram or their blog!

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