![]() ![]() ![]() We later hear from (amongst others) the 19th century ‘fasting girl’ Sarah Jacob, Curley’s unnamed wife from Of Mice and Men and the Roman goddess Salacia herself. The word ‘persona’ comes from the Latin for ‘mask’, and this is the first of many masks worn by Mari throughout the collection. The collection begins with a haunting persona poem told from the point of view of Gwen Ellis: the first woman hanged for witchcraft in Wales. Some of these belong to the poet, others are heard through her. Salacia, the debut collection of our Issue 10 guest Mari Ellis Dunning, is a book brimming with voices. However, there is also poetry to be found in the extraordinary, and especially in experiences far removed from our own. ![]() As the poet Nigel Jenkins so adroitly said: “It may sometimes be there, but here is rarely too small a place.” There is poetry in the ordinary, and many great poems have been produced by those who are able to convey that well. Despite now sounding a little clichéd, ‘write what you know’ isn’t a bad maxim. Often stated by well-meaning teachers right before a classroom task begins, this is advice that encourages students to avoid the pitfalls of the elaborate and the fantastical, and instead favour the safety of their everyday, their known. One of the first things poets are told – perhaps even before they realise they are poets – is to ‘write what you know’. ![]()
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