News
10/15/2025 I’m thrilled to have two new poems in the most recent issue of Lit Angels, created by Francesca Lia Block and guest edited by Melissa Pleckham. Click here to read them.
1/30/2025 Announcing a new essay series I’ll be releasing monthly all year long: My Favorite F***ing Movie is a personal exploration of sex through film.
12/7/2023 I have three new poems published on Erin Al-Mehairi’s blog, Hook of a Book, for her November Poetry Project. The theme of my poems is monstrous love – give them a read!
11/1/22 You can now buy Writing Poetry in the Dark, which includes my essay “Freeing the Demon: Writing Violence Into the Poem.”
12/7/2022 I Am Not Your Final Girl was included on the Pixel Project’s “16 for 16” list of recommended books about violence against women for 2022: “In recognition of the power of storytelling, The Pixel Project has curated our sixth annual selection of 16 books that tackle the issue of violence against women and girls. Some of these are popular genre fiction novels while others are hard-hitting non-fiction books – all of them will educate the reader in some way about sexism, misogyny, and violence against women in the past, present and even the future.”
8/25/22 I Am Not Your Final Girl was featured in the article These Horror Poetry Books Showcase the Art of Terror (via The Lineup): “This beautiful poetry collection by Claire C. Holland pays homage to all of the iconic Final Girls of horror history. Opening up their stories to examine their roles in a context of feminism, sexuality, violence, empowerment, and healing, this book follows these beloved fictional characters on a deeply personal journey. From Halloween’s Laurie Strode to The Witch’s Thomasin, readers walk a poetic path of reclaiming feminine monstrosity.”
3/3/22 I Am Not Your Final Girl was included in the Ladies of Horror Fiction’s article, “If You Liked That, Try This: Dark Poetry Collections to Match Your Favorite Horror Themes.”
3/3/22 I Am Not Your Final Girl was included on Lex Vranick’s list of 5 Books to Read During Women in Horror Month.
1/13/22 Raw Dog Screaming Press is thrilled to announce a book deal for Writing Poetry in the Dark, a craft book for speculative poets, by speculative poets. Edited by Bram Stoker award-winning author Stephanie M. Wytovich, with a foreword by one of the genre’s most celebrated authors, Tim Waggoner, this book meditates on craft, genre, style, and form as acclaimed SF/F/H poets come together to talk about their process, outlook, and approach to writing and incorporating the speculative into their poems. Contributors include many award-winning poets, authors, and editors such as Linda D. Addison, Michael A. Arnzen, F.J. Bergmann, Carina Bissett, Leza Cantoral, Timons Esaias, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Claire C. Holland, Jim and Janice Leach, Donna Lynch, Alessandro Manzetti, Jessica McHugh, Cynthia Pelayo, Saba Syed Razvi, Marge Simon, Christina Sng, Lucy A. Snyder, Sara Tantlinger, Joanna C. Valente, Bryan Thao Warra, and Albert Wendland.
2/2/21 Read “Drawn to the Dark Side,” a guest post about why I’ve felt drawn to the horror genre again and again, on Stephanie Wytovich’s blog.
12/28/20 How to Breathe Deep blog named I Am Not Your Final Girl one of their top books of 2020!
12/1/20 I Am Not Your Final Girl is discussed in the most recent episode of Books in the Freezer Podcast.
11/19/20 The Tufts Poetry Awards blog recently recommended I Am Not Your Final Girl in the post “Escapism Through Genre.”
11/13/20 Sadie Hartmann recommends I Am Not Your Final Girl in her post, “13 Stabby-Slashy Book Recommendations.”
10/30/20 I Am Not Your Final Girl was included on LitReactor’s “Five Must-Read Poetry Collections for Halloween”: “This collection will satiate your appetite for something gory, fierce, and full of action, and it makes for a wonderful companion piece as you binge watch John Carpenter’s Halloween for the 13th time this month.”
10/8/20 How to Breathe Deep blog recommends I Am Not Your Final Girl in their post, “What to Read This Spooky Season”: “This gorgeous collection of poetry is the perfect read for any feminists or horror movie fans…. One of my top reads of 2020!”
9/1/20 The Shades of Orange Booktube channel recommends I Am Not Your Final Girl in their latest video!
8/16/20 New Love of Poetry: A Handful of My Favorite Collections includes a recommendation for I Am Not Your Final Girl: “Beautifully written, a delicious concept and a poetry book that’s now firmly in my favourites of all time.”
8/3/20 ‘I Am Not Your Final Girl’ commemorates women in horror (interview with Blunt Magazine).
2/29/20 Burning Bright: How Women Poets Conquered Horror Poetry by Jennifer Barnes: “There have been a string of female poets whose collections have made a splash including Claire C. Holland, Donna Lynch, Lucy A. Snyder, Cina Pelayo, Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi, Saba Razvi and Sara Tantlinger and others. Readers are really responding to their work and it’s common to hear people say they never enjoyed poetry until they picked up one of these author’s books.”
2/15/20 Eight Amazing Horror Books Written By Women (from Claire L. Smith’s blog, The Horrors of Writing): “Unsettling yet powerful, this is a poetry book is a must-have for horror fans and poetry lovers alike as it not only explores our favourite heroines of horror but the societal monsters that plague them.”
2/10/20 Read Five Books of Poetry to Check Out for Women in Horror Month, including I Am Not Your Final Girl, on author Andrea Blythe’s blog.
2/3/20 I Am Not Your Final Girl was recently included on TheShadesofOrange Booktube Channel review, Female Authors You (Probably) Haven’t Read: “When it comes to horror, [Claire] does it right!”
1/28/20 I Am Not Your Final Girl was recently reviewed on Well Read Beard (video also includes a reading of two poems).
12/21/19 Let’s Get Galactic gave I Am Not Your Final Girl a 5-star review! The book was also included in “6 Collections of Horror Poetry I Love”.
12/17/19 Read a 5-star review of I Am Not Your Final Girl from the Night Worms blog.
7/19 I Am Not Your Final Girl received an Elgin award nomination!
6/12/19 Horror After Dark gave I Am Not Your Final Girl the “highest recommendation,” and said: “I normally don’t actively seek out books of poetry – except for a few notable authors. However, this collection that you can ‘feel’ deep inside as you read, is the kind that had me going back and re-reading selections immediately.”
5/14/19 A new review from Kat’s Books: “There has been a lot of talk about how this poetry collection connects to the state of ‘womanhood’ today; women need to read this empowering literature and poetry.”
5/2/19 Read two brand new horror poems that will be in my next poetry collection on Oh, For the Hook of a Book!
4/29/19 Read National Poetry Month: Talking about I Am Not Your Final Girl and Feminine Anger by Sonora Taylor.
4/11/19 I Am Not Your Final Girl was a featured book on the Ladies of Horror Fiction!
4/11/19 Fishmuffins of Doom reviewed: “I have never been so emotionally affected by poetry. Claire C. Holland masterfully captures each character as they are in the film and relates their experience to women today, whether it be in surviving emotional or physical abuse, being ignored, rejecting the status quo, not fitting into society’s view of women, or long for some sort of connection.”
4/9/19 Review from We Who Walk Here, Walk Alone: “Each woman becomes the star of her own movie, and the reader must reorient their thinking to recognize her as a fully realized being of (all-too-fragile, yet incredibly strong) flesh and bone.”
4/4/19 Features of Fright book review: “These are gut wrenching, heartbreaking battle cries laid out across every page. In a world that is just beginning to listen to survivors, this collection is poignant and ever so important…. Holland has curated the patron saints of tragedy and trauma, and they fight for all survivors.”
12/26/18 That’s What She Read also named I Am Not Your Final Girl a Best Book of 2018!
12/2/18 I Am Not Your Final Girl was reviewed on That’s What She Read (video).
11/25/18 Read a review of the book on Black Girl’s Guide to Horror: “These final girls, so often their stories end at the credits after they have defeated whatever evil has viciously robbed them of their friends, their family, their sense of safety, and often their sanity. They survive their stories most of the time, but mere survival is insufficient. Holland’s poems go beyond these horror heroines’ final acts, delve into their souls, and pull out what it means to survive ultimate horror and to live afterward.”
11/19/18 There’s a new review of the book at Shelf Stalker: “These are emotional and resonant poems that get to the heart of what it means to be someone who has experienced something traumatic. Through the use of horror films, Holland has also captured a piece of the current socio-political trauma in these pages, and that’s powerful, not only as an argument for why horror is important, but for how we can continue to fight back as creators, artists, and women.”
9/26/18 Poet Andrea Blythe reviewed the book on her blog: “[I Am Not Your Final Girl] presents a sense of fierce hope in the act of resistance, in rising up, in fighting back.”
9/26/18 I Am Not Your Final Girl was reviewed on The Misadventures of a Reader: “What I thought was interesting was that this was the Holland’s feelings about these women, brought about by the political climate. I found each of the poems to be gut wrenching and heart breaking. When you really digest the words and the meaning he fear and anger behind the words is palatable.”
9/10/18 Read another recent review at Becca Leigh Anne’s blog: “[I]t honestly gave me this sense of empowerment. Guys, women are amazing and even though the world is kind of.. shit.. there are inspiring women out there who are fighting every day for others and I have so much respect for them. I think it’s wonderful how Claire C. Holland has also found inspiration within characters in horror films who constantly had to fight…. I’m in awe.”
9/6/18 I Am Not Your Final Girl was recently reviewed on Horror Geek Life: “[O]ver the course of 40 poems, Holland’s words offer glimpses of situations far and wide, sure to connect with every woman everywhere, and in turn, provide reassurance that ‘something can be vulnerable and powerful at once’… and inspiration to stand their ground, speak their truth, and fight a fight worth fighting.”
8/29/18 Read my guest post in author Matt Betts’ blog series: Poetry Post-Mortem.
8/3/18 Listen to a reading of “Sophia” from I Am Not Your Final Girl on the latest episode of Horror Movie Podcast.
6/18/18 I was recently a guest author on Speculative Chic to talk about her favorite things in genre.
6/15/18 I Am Not Your Final Girl was recently reviewed on La Femme Macabre: “The book is just under 100 pages of thoughtful, powerful, and poignant poetry inspired by all of our favorite final girls created with perfect timing given our current political climate…. This has to be one of the most clever books I’ve picked up this year so far.”
5/3/18 Author Gwendolyn Kiste interviewed me over at her blog.
5/1/18 I Am Not Your Final Girl was reviewed on Horror Movie Podcast (review begins at 1:22:43), and you can win a copy of the book if you tune in.
3/20/18 Read my interview with Stephanie Wytovich, the Poetry Editor at Raw Dog Screaming Press, over at Stephanie’s blog: Join Me in the Madhouse.
3/4/18 I had the honor of being a juror for Horror Movie Podcast’s Horror Cinema Awards. Check out the episode.