The Redundancy of Tautology

Leilanie Stewart's “The Redundancy of Tautology” is an eclectic and at times surprising small anthology of poetry based on the concept of existential dread, using everyday objects and situations as literary devices.

In the poem “Carefree”, the author contemplates debt while jazz plays and the wind ripples a curtain. In “Brown Envelope”, the upcoming journey of a piece of mail is pondered. Everything from depression and mental health to erosion and the food chain are explored.

The cleverly written pieces “A Knife in the Back” and “It's a Metaphor for Something Else” add a much needed edgy dose of humour and levity to this otherwise dark collection.

Not every poem is a ‘greatest hit', but there are certainly more pops than there are fizzles in this anthology. If you are looking for a book of poetry that is offbeat and unexpected, this is certainly one worth checking out in my humble opinion.