Yubitsume

Description

by Jones, Mab | Poetry collections
Published on 21/11/2022 by Indigo Dreams Publishing
Paperback, softback | 60 pages

Yubitsume refers to the ritualistic act of cutting off one’s little finger to atone for an offence in Japanese culture. It’s that ‘lost limb’ feeling which pervades these poems, rather than anything cosy or woolly. Many of them take traditional concepts such as Wales or the sea and turn them on their head. These are poems that aim to be as truthful as possible, even at the risk of seeming grotesque and unattractive.

Mab Jones is a “unique talent” (The Times) and winner of the John Tripp Spoken Poetry Audience Award, the Word Factory Neil Gaiman Short Story competition, a Royal Society of Literature ‘Literature Matters’ award, the Aurora Poetry award, the Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, and the Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize. She teaches creative writing at Cardiff University, and has made several poetry programmes for BBC Radio 4. Currently, she is Cardiff Wetlands writer in residence.