Dethroned in Knightsbridge

Dethroned in Knightsbridge is a collection of poems about the experience of a young, queer immigrant living in the UK. Written in a confessional style, Silvia Lemos explores the journey from a lonely childhood in Portugal, to turbulent university years in Nottingham and finally new beginnings in London.

The struggle of relocating to a new place and feeling completely alone is profoundly represented in these poems. This loneliness, exacerbated by a complex family history and a lack of role models for queer people, shapes the trajectory of Silvia’s work—wanting to be seen, needing to be heard, and still finding the joy in the small unseen moments.

It can be difficult to find people like ourselves in the media we consume. Dethroned in Knightsbridge is both a result of and a solution to this problem: sometimes we have to be our own hero.