"Rhian Elizabeth’s The Last Polar Bear on Earth is one fourth of a new poetry quartet published by Parthian this autumn. A lone polar bear graces the cover, rearing up to better regard the star-speckled inky night sky. Nothing to do with the environment, or indeed bears, the collection’s title rather represents loneliness, isolation, desolation. Just some of the feelings that Elizabeth is familiar with in her experiences of love and illness, as she navigates the minefields of dating and Multiple Sclerosis, laying bare about abusive relationships, being a mother and having a debilitating illness. As the blurb succinctly puts it, here we have ‘some poems about being sick and being in love.’ As well as the surprising similarity between these two states, the unexpected humour stands out in this collection, and several poems had me snorting into my cup of tea.
"The Last Polar Bear on Earth’s final poem is typical of Elizabeth’s talent for transforming that which has gone before. ‘MS’ leaves the reader on an unlikely hopeful note that epitomes these poems. Its bleak moments are crested with a humour and incisiveness that makes this collection—which undoubtedly has its uncomfortable and sorrowful moments—a riotously funny and uplifting read."
Read Eleanor Howe's review in full on the New Welsh Review blog.
