Pearl and Bone

Shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year for her debut collection Salacia, this is the poet's highly anticipated second collection. Welsh Libraries Author of the Month - November 2022. This book will speak to parents, particularly mothers, and particularly those who became mothers during the covid pandemic. Academics, university lecturers, creative writing teachers, healthcare professionals and anyone interested in women's studies/history would be a potential buyer.

Beautiful, emotional and richly imagistic, Mari Ellis Dunning presents mothers in many forms: those experienced, chosen, unwitting, and presumed, asking us to consider the true nuances of motherhood - delicate as pearl, durable as bone.Pearl and Bone explores the complexities of the first year in the life of a pandemic mother, with the stories of other mothers interwoven amongst the author's intimate moments, from pregnancy to childbirth and beyond. These poems showcase the lost voices of women through history - in the throes of labour, Mary paces the stable; in a dim Soho studio, Christine Keeler poses for the infamous Lewis Morley photographs; while above us, the moon laments the number of feet that have stormed her surface. Beautiful, emotional and richly imagistic, Mari Ellis Dunning presents mothers in many forms: those experienced, chosen, unwitting, and presumed, asking us to consider the true nuances of motherhood - delicate as pearl, durable as bone.