A brand-new collection from the award-winning poet, the companion piece to the Sunday Times bestselling Slug''Funny, so smart and refreshingly honest'' SARAH MILLICAN''Hollie McNish''s words always sweep me away'' GIOVANNA FLETCHERThis book is written out of both hate and love for the worldAs people, we are capable of both love and hate; amazement and disgust; fun and misery. So why do we live in a world that is constantly telling us to hate, both ourselves and others? We are told to be repulsed by our own bodies, bodies that let us laugh and sweat and eat toast; to be ashamed of pleasure; to be embarrassed by fun. In this collection, Hollie McNish brings her inimitable style to the question of what have been taught to hate, and if we might learn to love again.''Never have we needed her more'' STYLIST''I''ve loved her work for years'' JO BRAND''She writes with honesty, conviction, humour and love'' KAE TEMPEST

Winner of the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry''This book should be required reading for anyone thinking of having a baby, or even anyone who knows someone who is thinking of having a baby'' Scotland on Sunday''Fascinating and honest'' Mumsnet''Like talking to a friend'' ObserverThere were many things that Hollie McNish didn''t know before she was pregnant. How her family and friends would react; that Mr Whippy would be off the menu; how quickly ice can melt on a stomach. These were on top of the many other things she didn''t know about babies: how to stand while holding one; how to do a poetry gig with your baby as an audience member; how drum''n''bass can make a great lullaby. And that''s before you even start on toddlers. But Hollie learned. And she''s still learning, slowly. Nobody Told Me is a collection of poems and stories; Hollie''s thoughts on raising a child in modern Britain, of trying to become a parent in modern Britain, of sex, commercialism, feeding, gender and of finding secret places to scream once in a while.