Other books that might interest you

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  Harbinger - Poems

  Shelley Puhak

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   “The speaker in Shelley Puhak’s Harbinger is no closer to knowing herself than I am, than we are, which is why we trust her. Each similarly titled poem holds a triptych mirror up to the artist and, in so doing, up to us all, so we may better see ourselves as we are. In ever-changing form.” —Nicole Sealey  
  A stunning meditation on artistic creation and historical memory from the winner of the National Poetry Series, chosen by Nicole Sealey 
  From “Portrait of the artist, gaslit” to “Portrait of the artist’s ancestors” to “Portrait of the artist reading a newspaper,” the poems in Harbinger reflect the many facets of the artistic self as well as the myriad influences and experiences that contribute to that identity. 
  “Portrait of the artist as a young man” has long been the default position, but these poems carve out a different vantage point. Seen through the lens of motherhood, of working as a waitress, of watching election results come in, or of simply sitting in a waiting room, making art—and making an artist—is a process wherein historical events collide with lived experience, both deeply personal but also unfailingly political. When we make art, for what (and to whom) are we accountable? And what does art-making demand of us, especially as apocalypse looms? 
  With its surprising insights, Harbinger, the latest book from acclaimed poet Shelley Puhak, shows us the reality of the constantly evolving and unstable self, a portrait of the artist as fragmentary, impressionable, and always in flux. 
    

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  Impossible Heat

  Ciara Maguire

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  'these basements that taught me to breathe;my body happening in the space between moonlight &the leather straps wrapped round an old dyke's wristgender split open like a crass piñata on the sticky floor'
  Ciara Maguire's poems explore the bright fields and dark corners of love. They are heartbreaking, sexy and addictive.
  'Impossible Heat is a work of claustrophobia, heat, and longing. Sexual ideation extends from the mind of the speaker to colour and consume everything. Long lines and rich cadences hold the reader in a vice, just as the speaker is offered no reprieve from her own intensity of feeling. Amidst the erotic, there is a profound hopelessness that doesn't stop the poems being witty and manic, as the speaker struggles with privacy and performance, with a
  fear of perception but a desperate need to be perceived. The emotional incisiveness of this work is stark, its euphony sumptuous.' Susannah Dickey
  'A nest-making of threads and mirrors, sapphic rorschachs revealing everything and nothing that might be told in the salt content of sweat and the tonguing indent of lyric. These generous poems drift through the gap someone left in your bedroom window. Here are dreams, tragedies of homosexuality, domestic horror shows, a cascade of utopian performatives, moonlight, a summer that may or may not ever end. What innocence is lost or won in love is felt in the sensory plenitude of our speaker's imagination. Maguire is a master of anaphora, list and simile. Impossible Heat surrenders to its own melting, poems yielding
  magical hyperobjects which metabolise into tender adhesives, binding us irresistibly to this book. This is a work of devotion, connection, eclipse, desire and discovery. Its charm is quietly devastating.' Maria Sledmere

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  The Trials

  Dawn King

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  'Everyone lived like we did! Well maybe not everyone, everyone. But… I wasn't any worse than anyone else.'
  The near future. The climate emergency is gathering pace, and our generation is being judged.
  The jurors are children. But are they delivering justice – or just taking revenge?
  Dawn King's searing play The Trials was first performed at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in January 2022, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. It received its British premiere at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in August 2022, directed by Natalie Abrahami.
  The Trials offers an exciting opportunity for theatre companies to address the climate emergency and intergenerational conflict, as the jury of 12 to 17-year-olds hold the stage alongside three adult defendants.

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  Room Swept Home

  Remica Bingham-Risher

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  Room Swept Home serves as a gloriously rendered magnifying glass into all that is held in the line between the private and public, the investigative and generative, the self and those who came before us. In a strange twist of kismet, two of Bingham-Risher's ancestors intersect in Petersburg, Virginia, forty years before she herself is born: her paternal great-great-great grandmother, Minnie Lee Fowlkes, is interviewed for the Works Progress Administration Slave Narratives in Petersburg in 1937, and her maternal grandmother, Mary Knight, is sent to Petersburg in 1941, diagnosed with "water on the brain"—postpartum depression being an ongoing mystery—nine days after birthing her first child. Marrying meticulous archival research with Womanist scholarship and her hallmark lyrical precision, Bingham-Risher's latest collection treads the murky waters of race, lineage, faith, mental health, women's rights, and the violent reckoning that inhabits the discrepancy between lived versus textbook history, asking: What do we inherit when trauma is at the core of our fractured living?[sample poem]XI. the more ground covered, the more liberated you becameI am scared my mind will turn on me. I am scared I will be naked in a burning house. I am scared my children won't outpace me.I am scared my children (who aren't made by me) believe I am a sad imitation of the others.I am scared I will gather in a roomwhere everyone will ask me to rememberand when I don't lie they'll say I'd hate to be you. I've lived long enough to be scared my kidneys will give out on me. I've lived long enough to know just when they should. I have never shared my fears with anyone; I am scared they will map the land and take liberties. Will the women be ashamed? I'm scared to ask. What will live again? What will die with me?

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  Othello

  William Shakespeare

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  Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare based on the short story "Moor of Venice" by Cinthio, believed to have been written in approximately 1603. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, his wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio, and his trusted advisor Iago. Attesting to its enduring popularity, the play appeared in 7 editions between 1622 and 1705. Because of its varied themes — racism, love, jealousy and betrayal — it remains relevant to the present day and is often performed in professional and community theatres alike. The play has also been the basis for numerous operatic, film and literary adaptations.
  Othello, suspicious and jealous military general, listened to a malicious gossip from his secret hater Iago and now believes that his beautiful wife Desdemona is unfaithful. Passionate nature of the Moor can't bear the shame and in a burst of temper he kills the innocent Desdemona…
  Among the most significant works William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Orpheus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, The Tempest, Venus and Adonis, Antony and Cleopatra, Measure for Measure, The Winter's Tale and many more.

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  Prima Facie: Special Edition

  Suzie Miller

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  This special edition of the international hit play Prima Facie features the definitive version of the award-winning script, together with colour photos and exclusive additional content, giving you a fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into the making of the production and the issues it explores.
  In the play, Tessa is a young, brilliant barrister who has worked her way up from working-class origins to the top of her game: defending, cross-examining and winning. But when an unexpected event forces her to confront the patriarchal power of the law – where the burden of proof and morality diverge – she finds herself in a world where emotion and integrity are in conflict with the rules of the game.
  After acclaimed productions in Australia and winning the Australian Writers' Guild Award for Drama, Prima Facie received its European premiere in a sold-out run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in 2022 starring Jodie Comer in her West End debut. It was named Best New Play at both the 2023 Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards. A filmed version, released in 2022, went on to become the highest-grossing event cinema release ever in the UK.
  This edition, published alongside Prima Facie's Broadway transfer in 2023, includes contributions from writer Suzie Miller, actor Jodie Comer, director Justin Martin, producer James Bierman and other key members of the creative team, letting you go deeper into the world of the play. There are also essays on the legal context and how the play has become a vehicle for change in attitudes towards the treatment of female victims of sexual assault.

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