“There was a time when I was not the Dictator’s
Wife though I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
 
The Dictator’s Wife confides this in you: her husband has blind spots. Any day now, he may be overthrown. And what of love? It is paling her, until she fears her own transparency. Who is this father of her children, this man who does not smile?
 
Through the eyes of the dictator’s wife, Aryamati Prize winner Katrina Dybzynska paints a world of mystery and intrigue, where the lines between loyalty and betrayal are blurred, and the true nature of power is constantly called into question.
 
“A stunning, lyrical work. 
Secrets of the Dictator’s Wife goes through the looking glass of power and beautifully,  unflinchingly, records what it finds there.” 
- Freya Berry, Author of The Dictator’s Wife 
"In 'Secrets of A Dictator’s Wife,' Katrina Dybzynska charts the subversive inner life of the title character, who has ‘learnt to weaponize/ endurance’. The wry, subtle voice, revealed through this often compelling series of poems is alert to the peril of her situation as well as her own complicity: '…all the thin lines I balance on’."
- Nell Regan, Poet 
 
Sample -
 
The Dictator’s Wife on cracks
 
That we drunk champagne and ate caviar as luxury
wasn't creative. It was easy to forget we were part
of the constellation when we felt like stars.
 
The conflicts were never open. A quiet frown
of disapproval, the colors turning pastel.
Straightening of the wrinkles and of the borders.
 
Previously drafted sketches became lines
I was not allowed to change. The champagne glasses
held too tight, cracking in my hand.