The Face in the Well by Rebecca Watts PRE-ORDER
Published 30th January 2025. Available for pre-order.
In her vibrant third collection, Rebecca Watts shines a light on the tender, spontaneous, creative and creaturely aspects of the self, and asks how we might nurture and shield these from the many physical, phsycological and social forces predisposed to keep them down. Wearing a variety of costumes, or none at all, the characters in these dramatic poems play hide and seek, guarding their vulnerabilities while yearning for greater connection with others and the world. Animals, as totems and spirit guides, swim, run and fly across the pages. Children tiptoe and improvise their way through landscapes designed to curtail and bewilder them. Adults curate their own funerals, befirend spiders, try to love each other, go to war. Poets and other heroes - Brontë, Heaney, Plath, Yeats, Mary Poppins - are confronted, reflected, refracted and left echoing anew. ‘She seems to have discovered a direct line to her speaking voice, while simultaneously maintaining the clear thought of a poet. This sets her apart. Not many can cope with these two competing sounds jabbering in their ear. If someone can do this you don't really care what they write about because they're in the room with you, speaking to you personally. “Resistance†is nowhere.' Hugo Williams
In her vibrant third collection, Rebecca Watts shines a light on the tender, spontaneous, creative and creaturely aspects of the self, and asks how we might nurture and shield these from the many physical, phsycological and social forces predisposed to keep them down. Wearing a variety of costumes, or none at all, the characters in these dramatic poems play hide and seek, guarding their vulnerabilities while yearning for greater connection with others and the world. Animals, as totems and spirit guides, swim, run and fly across the pages. Children tiptoe and improvise their way through landscapes designed to curtail and bewilder them. Adults curate their own funerals, befirend spiders, try to love each other, go to war. Poets and other heroes - Brontë, Heaney, Plath, Yeats, Mary Poppins - are confronted, reflected, refracted and left echoing anew. ‘She seems to have discovered a direct line to her speaking voice, while simultaneously maintaining the clear thought of a poet. This sets her apart. Not many can cope with these two competing sounds jabbering in their ear. If someone can do this you don't really care what they write about because they're in the room with you, speaking to you personally. “Resistance†is nowhere.' Hugo Williams
MEMBERS ENJOY 25% OFF ALL POETRY BOOKS
Join the Poetry Book Society for 25% off all books
Join the Poetry Book Society for 25% off all books