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- Published 20250204
- ISBN: 978-1-923213-04-3
- Extent: 196 pp
- Paperback, ebook. PDF

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About the author
Lily Holloway
Lily Holloway’s work has been published in Black Warrior Review, Sundog Lit, Ōrongohau: Best New Zealand Poems, Peach Mag and Hobart After Dark, among others. Their...
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