Vox Wah-Wah
When Hilary Menos got together with guitarist Andy Brodie she found herself sharing space with a 1967 Gretsch Double Anniversary, a 1962 Vox AC30 and an array of guitar pedals with names like Dr Scientist Reverberator, Nocturne Dyno Brain and Rozz Super Baby Flanger. Soon she could tell a Tele from a Strat and a humbucker from a P90, and in the eternal conversation about where rock’n’roll came from and who did it best, she got game!
Frank Sinatra said rock’n’roll was ‘the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear.’ Frank is between these covers, as are Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Karen Carpenter and Etta James, among others. But this is not just a celebration of rock’n’roll greats. Menos explores the stories behind iconic moments in rock history, the impact of sound on the body and the joy of reckless abandon. The poems in Vox Wah-Wah suggest how to live, how to love and (with a bit of help from Elvis) how to leave this world.
Hilary Menos’ first collection, Berg (Seren, 2009), won the Felix Dennis Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2010. Her second collection is Red Devon (Seren, 2013). She’s a two-time winner of The Poetry Business International Book & Pamphlet Competition with Extra Maths in 2005 and Human Tissue in 2019. Her second pamphlet, Wheelbarrow Farm, was a winner in the 2010 Templar Pamphlet & Collection Awards. Her fourth pamphlet, Fear of Forks, was published by HappenStance Press in 2022. Vox Wah-Wah was published by New Walk Editions in 2026.
“Menos creates small worlds packed tight, seamless, masterfully compressed. Her poems have wit, range and strength; they are contemporary, varied and highly imaginative.” — Ruth Padel
“… crackles with formal skill, with extraordinary, vibrant language … and with great style.” — Carol Ann Duffy
