Nebomske pesmi
(The Notgonna Poems) Book not yet available in English
Summary:
The poetry collection titled The Notgonna Poems was first published in 1994. It was the poet Barbara Gregorič Gorenc’s first single-author poetry collection and features twenty-two short poems centred around an antagonist called the Notgonna Girl, a free-spirited and rebellious child. The poems are a first-person singular narration revealing intense childhood emotions, an internal world of a little rebel who refuses to be a good girl any longer. (source: publisher)
Edited by: Mestna knjižnica Ljubljana
Comment:
The author, who was at the time of publication a member of the younger generation of Slovene poets, introduced some new, fresh and daring tones into Slovenian young adult literature. The main character called the Notgonna Girl is a young schoolgirl resembling Pippi Longstocking in many respects. She is confident, courageous, rebellious and a free spirit, which makes her stand out among other girls who want to be princesses, wear pink bowties, who are afraid to get their hands dirty and recoil at the sight of beetles and spiders. In fact, the Notgonna Girl possesses several characteristics typical of boys: she is not afraid to let people know when she’s angry or experiencing some other strong emotion, and she can also slam doors, blow a raspberry, be vengeful or ‘bite’ if that is what is needed. She is far from the stereotype of gentle, obedient and ‘angelic’ girls. She doesn’t want to grow up and become dull and boring. She rages at her parents, at the world and at the injustices she experiences. She fights for her rights (almost every poem is a small protest), but she also sulks and cries and feels lonely in between those. In spite of everything, she is above all a little girl who loves ice cream, can be jealous, collects paper napkins, enjoys a good tea party with her mum and aunt on a good day, and puts everything she has to do off to a later time when she might stop feeling “notgonnaly”.