Susie Wild's Blog: Wildlife, page 5

Buzz Review: Breaking a Mare and Bathing on the Roof

Two wonderful reviews up on Buzz for Breaking a Mare and Bathing on the Roof, thanks Mab Jones!

'Visceral and unflinching, Christina Thatcher’s exploration of girlhood, silence, and the raw edges of rural life is powerfully affecting... The poet’s unflinching gaze and lyrical prowess give these poems flint and flame: their stories are shaped by adversity, but lit up by insight.' – On Christina Thatcher's Breaking a Mare

'Tracey Rhys’ debut collection is a bold and evocative reimagining of the Biblical character of Bathsheba, transforming her with intelligence and imagination into an everywoman navigating the complexities of modern life... As well as offering up a fascinating exploration of femininity, power, and identity, it is Rhys’ adept use of language and innovative perspectives that make this collection, for me, a standout.' – On Tracey Rhys's Bathing on the Roof

https://www.buzzmag.co.uk/new-poetry-may-2025-emily-jungmin-yoon-pascale-petit/

On the Radio: Natalie Ann Holborow on BBC Radio 4: The Adverb at Hay Festival

 

BBC Radio 4: The Adverb

Ian McMillan with Natalie Ann Holborow, Len Pennie, Michael Rosen and Alex WhartonFriday 23 May 2025, 7pm – Exchange MarqueeThe Barnsley Bard Ian McMillan is joined by a veritable paean of poets for a special edition of BBC Radio 4's The Adverb: Michael Rosen has been praised for his “ability to address the most serious matters of life in a spirit of joy, humour and hope”; Len Pennie has won acclaim and admirers for her muscular use of the Scots language; Alex Wharton is currently Children’s Laureate Wales but he writes poems for everyone and his fans include racing driver Sir Lewis Hamilton who had one of Alex’s poems stitched into his Met Gala suit last year; and Natalie Ann Holborow who describes poetry as “a powerful and precious thread that runs through the tapestry of our lives”. With three poetry collections under her belt, the thread is strong in this one.

Join the audience for this Hay Festival edition of The Adverb – The Verb’s showcase of the best live poetry and performance.Free – drop in

Wales Book of the Year Shortlist 2025: Little Universe

We're absolutely delighted for Natalie Ann Holborow, today shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year Award 2025 for her third poetry collection, the stellar Little Universe.

Thanks to all the judges and huge congratulations to all the other wonderful writers on the shortlist!If you'd like to get involved, you can vote for your favourite book on the shortlist.


‘Poems of true wonder, mystery composed with precision. Natalie Ann Holborow is a custodian of beauty in the ordinary and the fragility of experience. The lyric moments of her Little Universe made me lift my eyes from the page and consult the stars.’ – Oliver James Lomax 'Little Universe presents an intense voyage through a recognisable Welsh landscape of family, hospital wards, homes, beaches, love, and new life. The poems encompass mythology, the joys of the everyday and the personal inevitability of illness and grief. This is a poetry acutely aware of the specificity of vocabulary and of the unconstrained possibilities of inventive language. I love, love, love this collection and every part of its heartfelt oomph!’ – Jeremy Dixon‘Natalie Ann Holborow’s new collection probes vulnerability with a fresh eye. The investigations of its visceral poems discover the mind and body’s ‘clandestine angles’ that emerge only at their limits, when they are ‘primed for the blow’. This is intimate, poignant writing. Stunning imagery bursts from these pages as the speaker’s selves open to their surroundings, the reader joining a chorus of "startled applause".’ – John McCullough 'Vivid, sometimes lurid; taut, at times with a tightness that speaks of intense situations, mindstates, emotions; and, very often, visual, these are poems which manage a balance between being scalpel-sharp yet rich in description... I know of very few young writers who are quite so fantastic... It’s a book that will mesmerise from beginning to end, and holds great power.' – Mab Jones, Buzz Magazine

Nation.Cymru Interview: Christina Thatcher

In her most recent collection of poetry, Christina Thatcher captures a series of vivid snapshots of life on a farm, in tune to the needs of animals and the natural world but not entirely free from the pressures of modern life.From the very first poem, she guides you step by step into the barn, down the stalls to the horses, as if to encourage you to gently place your hand on the horse’s mane.Interview: Imogen Davies
Read more on Nation.Cymru

Rae and Ness in The Guardian

Lovely to see Rae Howells, Vanessa Owen and Arachne in The Guardian today. I picked up a copy of Afonydd at Free Verse on the 26th... I recommend you get one here: https://arachnepress.com/books/poetry/afonydd/ or from your favourite bookshop!

PHOTO BLOG: Day / Night

River Wye, Ross-on-Wye and waiting for The Pogues to start, Birmingham:

'irresistibly brilliant' – Tôpher Mills on Tracey Rhys

'When I first bumped to Tracey Rhys (twenty odd years ago, apparently she was just a teenager) she was reading and writing stories. They were so good I suggested she should think about a book. After about 15 years she produced a pamphlet of poems and now, 9 years on, this fabulous collection that mixes the dramatic and the hilarious to show how irresistibly brilliant she can be. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait as long for her next book.' – Tôpher Mills

PHOTO BLOG: Roath Park Lake

 Lovely by the lake before and after class today…

Bardic Books Events: Patrick Jones and Christina Thatcher

 

LONDON TODAY! Free Verse Poetry & Magazine Fair

I am at Free Verse Poetry & Magazine Fair in London today for Parthian Books & New Welsh Review! Come say hello! Table 40…