Music publicist, journalist, and poet Danielle Holian is stepping into a different kind of spotlight with the release of her new poetry collection Growing Pains (2026), a raw, emotionally charged project that dives deep into love, loss, and self-reclamation.
Known in music circles for her work behind the scenes supporting and elevating artists, Holian flips the narrative inward on this latest release. The West of Ireland creative, who has already published three poetry collections, Beautifully Chaotic, The Dilemma, and Surviving You, returns with what may be her most personal and unfiltered body of work yet.
Growing Pains plays out like an emotional storyline split into five chapters: Honeymoon, Handcuffs, Hangover, Hindsight, and Homecoming. Across these sections, Holian unpacks a relationship marked by intensity, control, emotional confusion, and ultimately, liberation.
The book doesn’t shy away from discomfort. Instead, it leans into it, capturing the slow realisation of toxicity and the messy, complicated process of breaking free. There’s a cinematic quality to the writing, with each poem feeling like a scene in a larger emotional arc.
Holian’s background in the music industry subtly echoes through her poetic style. There’s rhythm, pacing, and a sense of atmosphere that feels almost sonic at times, unsurprising for someone who spends her career working closely with artists and storytelling in music.
At its core, Growing Pains is about survival and coming back to yourself after emotional upheaval. It’s vulnerable without being performative, and reflective without losing edge.
With this release, Danielle Holian continues to blur the lines between music culture and literary expression, proving that storytelling hits just as hard on the page as it does in a track.
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