Friday 15 December 2023

Seasonal greetings and some review news


 Wishing all our readers, writers and supporters a wonderful festive period and a great start to 2024! Thank you for being with us this year - and here's to many more to come!


REVIEWS


"Frequently in this moving collection, the reader has a sharp intake of breath and is propelled into knowing something visceral about the staggering pain and regret of involuntary childlessness. There are no easy answers here. Instead, Doyle has offered us a compelling and, at times, heartbreaking voice that sings of the complexity of un-motherhood." 

Diana CantLondon Grip, full review here.

"‘Corn Dolly’ opens the pamphlet, with some stunning images, ‘I am stiff-skirted, wide-/ legged, fecund and// pregnant with home-/spun magic’. [...]
One poem I found particularly moving was ‘Windsong, for my mother’: ‘Forgive me those times I slipped my moorings: the safe harbour of your arms, your kitchen/ table counsel’, summed up at the end of the poem as ‘belief, courage, hope.’ The poems in this pamphlet pay tribute to this counsel."

Mary MulhollandThe Alchemy Spoon, Issue 11

'Sarah Doyle's striking pamphlet explores deeply personal experiences of non-motherhood, endometriosis, infertility and "the faces of children / you will not have". These are poignant and painful poems, "twisted into promise", which will resonate with all those who are coming to terms with childlessness. Despite "the othering nature of un-motherhood", as Polly Atkins so eloquently puts it, (M)othersongs sings of "belief, courage, hope".'

Poetry Book SocietyWinter Bulletin 2023

(M)othersongs can be purchased through the Poetry Book Society here.

More information, a sample poem and ordering for (m)othersongs by Sarah Doyle can also be found on the V. Press website here.

Last-Minute Gifts


Finally, just a reminder that, if you're looking for a last-minute gift or find yourself with spare time over the festive break and want something to read, we do have some flash fiction titles available on Kindle. You can find more details on our fiction list here.