"Stand your ground/grip your prayer - these are gripping poems, poems with a social conscience, standing their ground." - Anna Jackson

"John Howell takes us into a world where accustomed notions of 'home' have been defaced, distorted and obliterated. It's a familiar but uncomfortabel place to be. In an era defined by the refugee crisis and, in our own cities, escalating homelessness, Howell's poems are not only a call to attention, they are, fundamentally, a declaration of fellow- feeling and aroha." - Gregory O'Brien