The Shape of a Forest

These poems of desire, loss, and revenge explore lives caught in the gravity of their own orbit. Haunting, distinctive, and sensual, The Shape of a Forest has unblinking scope. This sophisticated debut collection moves from the historical to the contemporary: Genghis Khan surveys his territory while Amelia Earhart disappears to myth. The Belvedere Apollo is dug up heralding the onset of the Renaissance as a tiger meets a foe in a Siberian forest, the Pendle witches are hung in Lancashire, and in tsunami-struck Japanese gardens, South Sea islands, and New York hotel rooms, lives are loosened like milk teeth. The Shape of a Forest is a powerful survey of life and of human experience that spans centuries and the continents.

JemmaL. King teaches literature and creative writing at Aberystwyth University where she also completed her doctoral thesis. Winner of the Terry Hetherington Award for young writers in 2011, she has published her creative and academic work internationally. She is a founding member of the Centre for Women, Writing and Literary Culture and is a reviewer of contemporary literature for numerous publications.＂