Sick Note (Olivia De Zilva, Pink Shorts Press)

Sick Note is Olivia De Zilva’s (Plastic Budgie, Eggshell) debut poetry collection, exploring capitalism, work, chronic illness, un/underemployment and identity politics.

The collection is almost irrefutably “zillennial”, occupying the peculiar cusp between the millennial and Gen Z experiences. A reference to a voice-activated diary evokes a childhood that was neither fully analogue nor fully online. The poems are filled with nostalgia for pre-digital life yet firmly rooted in the never-ending haze of contemporary screen time. De Zilva is adept at moving around in deeply “online” language to rally against the “girlboss, gatekeep, gaslight” triteness of ironic empowerment.

Sick Note is a book that dreams of something beyond late-stage capitalism, and De Zilva stands as an observer, trying to remain separate from the consumer. Her poetry is accessible and loose in form, but understanding the pop culture and online references is critical to that accessibility (for those who have ended up with “r/auscorp” suggested on their Reddit homepage or hear “bébé” in Catherine O’Hara’s voice). As a result, this collection may attract readers who might not otherwise consider poetry.

Highlight poems include “Unemployed Google search”, “Girlboss loneliness epidemic”, and “Industrial heat”.

Sick Note is a confident debut, with a word search and a hearty peppering of exclamation marks, emojis and prose poems, for readers of Sinead Stubbins, Ella Baxter, Katherine Brabon, Dan Hogan, Harry Reid, Evelyn Araluen and Sam Wallman.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Clare Millar is a writer, editor and children’s bookseller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews