This week we're talking all things poetry in the lead up to #NationalPoetryDay this Thursday on the 6th of October. We are delighted that Pearl & Bone by the wonderful Mari Ellis Dunning has been met with some great reviews since its launch last Saturday.
Dunning's second full poetry collection explores themes of motherhood and femininity using her own intimate moments of becoming a mother during a global pandemic whilst interweaving the lost voices of historical female figures. We were able to celebrate the release of this powerful collection at Waterstones Aberystwyth last Tuesday! It was a lovely night of chatting poetry, signings and a Q&A lead by Carly Holmes, author of the enchanting short story collection Figurehead. A big thank you to Chloe and the Waterstones team and to Carly Holmes for running the Q&A.'This is a brave, complex, powerful, angry, and loving book, full of poems that argue, discuss, share, and reject the abuse of power that women and children are constant victims of' - Tears in the Fence
"The collection has a strong sense of the now – Dunning’s electrifying foreword places her work within an intensely contemporary context of Roe V. Wade – and a deep understanding and respect for the plights of women throughout history.....Pearl & Bone’s quieter, more personal poems anchor the collection to the present day. Here Dunning turns to the natural world to articulate the powerful bond between herself and her unborn child. Confessional poems ‘Telling your father at Bwlch Nant yr Arian’ combine the biological with the geographical as Dunning writes of ‘the way it sung beneath us, the silver brook steaming like an umbilical cord." - Isabel Roach, Wales Arts Review
The poem 'A Sudden Mother' encapsulates the thread of motherhood, from pregnancy to childbirth and beyond, that weaves the collection together. We'll be sharing more poetry in the lead up to #NationalPoetryDay so keep an eye on our socials for more like this!
We are delighted that this beautiful collection is out now, order it directly from us with only 99p postage or pick it up from your local bookshop.
If you missed out on the Aberystwyth event and want to explore more poetry we have an upcoming event with Waterstones Swansea for National Poetry Day!
Join Mari Ellis Dunning, Emily Vanderploeg, Rae Howells and Natalie Ann Holborow at 13:00 on Thursday, 6th October at Waterstones Swansea. Asking the question 'How We Write Poems?' and more!
