Description
Taking their cue from the natural world, science and science-fiction, the vivid and surreal poems of Once I Carried Three Crows present contemporary myths born from experiences such as the process of ageing, disability, intergenerational relationships, body image and sexuality. Here we find stories of the woman who married the North Sea, of ghosthouses and of birdhouses, of Iris, the first granny in space, and of the worm that eats memories along with ‘half a glass / of iced Chianti’.
Following on from Wain: LGBT reimaginings of Scottish folktales, a collection aimed at younger readers (Emma Press, 2019), this highly anticipated new collection for grown-ups proves Rachel Plummer to be one of the most original and exciting poets writing in Scotland today.
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Rachel Plummer is a poet living in Edinburgh. They are a Scottish Book Trust New Writer’s Award winner (2016) and have published widely across numerous magazines and journals. In 2017 they published a pamphlet of sci-fi poetry with House Press, and in 2019 they published Wain: LGBT reimaginings of Scottish folktales (Emma Press) after receiving a cultural commission from LGBT Youth Scotland. Rachel has two children, three guinea pigs, and entirely too many books.
‘Here’s a poet working in the space between song and story: someone who can handle both the drive and weight of a fable and the guiding light of a good tune. Rachel Plummer is telling new myths about love and sex, transformation and discovery, being and belonging, death and hope, all the while following the bright logic of words’ music. These are poems to read your sweetheart in bed at night and poems to curse your enemies: they’re magic.’ – Harry Josephine Giles
‘The imagination in these poems is superb. Plummer’s descriptive prowess is shot through with story at every turn: the woods open their arms with offerings and danger; the seas draw close. Most satisfying of all is how these tales are held in music, which runs like a current through this stunning collection.’ – Miriam Nash
‘Rachel Plummer gives the natural world such careful attention, and asks the reader to do the same: I found myself holding my breath reading these poems. If you like Mary Oliver, you will love this collection.’ – Claire Askew
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