Len Pennie

There isn''t a timescale for how you should healYour bad days are valid, your heartache is realBut so is the day that your smile will returnThat fire within you continues to burnYou will overcome this and continue to thriveYou are here, you are loved, you are whole, you''re alive.A formidable follow up to her award-winning debut poetry collection, Len Pennie''s poyums annaw is just like her: defiant, angry and trailblazing. These poems are a call to arms, confronting ideas of patriarchy, gender-based violence and societal injustice with equal parts tenderness, quick-wit and righteous fury. poyums annaw firmly cements Len as a defining voice in contemporary Scots poetry.

And I have done more than just simply get by So much more than escape or survive Through the galvanisation of love, time and patience I'll take hold of my story and thrive. After life that was seldom what life ought to be Through laughter and love I'll be whole This story is mine from the cover to spine And the narrative I will control Whether she's writing letters to her younger self, advocating for women's rights or adapting fairy tales to process an abusive relationship, Len's voice is bold, unashamedly frank and unmistakably hers. The poems in this collection, both funny and fiercely feminist, announce a formidable new talent. Moving deftly between English and Scots, poyums is as approachable as it is affecting.