Bloofer by Cathleen Allyn Conway is an intoxicating mix of the playful macabre and elements of dark academia. Conway's illicit obsessions creep through like the full moon on a cloudy night: Bram Stoker, Plath in thrall to the occult, dark alleyways and haunted libraries. Bloofer hides "razorblades between the pages" that give a keen edge to this thrilling and mischievous collection of poems that disarm you with humour before they bite you.
An act of devotion, resurrection and rescue, Bloofer is a significant achievement. These poems combine lyrical, incantatory phrasing with startlingly powerful visual qualities, all unified by a dedication to collage and radical technique. Conway has a remarkable ear for the effective phrase, the click and satisfaction when something modulates into a surprising and oddly apposite conclusion. Provocative, haunting and ultimately empowering.
- Luke Kennard, Notes on the Sonnets
Bloofer is a queen-sized, blood-dripping, free-falling collection for creepy girls that holds flaming torches and pitchforks up to interrogate the entangled imagery of vamp and heroine. Conway dissects and reanimates gothic film and literature in a way that is both sensual and macabre, magical and grounding. This is not only a collection to sink your teeth into - it is also one that will bite back.
- E.P. Jenkins, Rituals