Poems · Write Bloody UK · 2026

My Marxist Valentine

by Deborah Finding

Would he ever say, "I love you"?
Would she ever say, "You were right about historical materialism"?

The poems in My Marxist Valentine chart a relationship of contradictions between an idealistic and romantic narrator, and her eponymous antagonist, a man of science, study and silence, at least where love is concerned.

Seeking answers in the relationships of revolutionaries like Eleanor Marx, Rosa Luxemburg and Emma Goldman, and attempting to extract dating advice from Marx's Capital, poet Deborah Finding invites the reader to consider if, when, and how love can be truly radical.

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"Urgent and playful, My Marxist Valentine restores 'love' from the mingily privatised sphere of capitalism and patriarchy, and radicalism from the duties of joyless, grinding anger. With warmth, wit and formal exuberance, Finding gives us an erotics of solidarity: a comradeship that places jouissance, joy and laughter at the centre of shared struggle."
-Fran Lock, author of Hyena!, Contains Mild Peril

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"Inventive and tremendously enjoyable, My Marxist Valentine manages to make the incongruities of love and politics sing off the page thanks to Finding's innate understanding of pace and form, comedy as defence and pathos. A compulsively readable, funny and smart collection."
-Luke Kennard, author of Notes on the Sonnets, The Book of Jonah

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"The scene has for too long been short of poets who can meet public passion with formal brilliance and melodic power: the arrival of Deborah Finding, with her craft, her candour, her sharp-eyed wit and whole-hearted outrage, is a huge stride in the best of directions."
-Glyn Maxwell, author of On Poetry, The Big Calls

Publisher

Write Bloody UK

ISBN

9781919452609

Sources

Source material, references and playlists