Hindsight

Hindsight is the first collection of poetry released by Ivanova. In many ways, Hindsight is an autobiography, capturing Sofiya's pre-teen and early teen years, and all the feelings that come with it. It covers topics such as losing your family pet, leaving behind your childhood, wanting to be special and important, your parents being imperfect people, mental health, etc, etc. And, of course, figuring out love. In Russian (the poet's first language), there's a saying that goes, "the first pancake comes out as a lump", and that applies to love too. The first few pancakes, in this case. There are a lot of love poems. There are a lot of bitter poems, too, because art is a great outlet for anger. Those read as though they should have a mic drop at the end. Hindsight not only reads like a coming of age collection as an introduction to the world of a new and gifted poet. But, it is also an exorcism and celebration of the past as she becomes a poet that sees the world with clarity and beauty; a poet that we all need.