*'The Republic of Motherhood' Winner of the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem*

'I crossed the border into the Republic of Motherhood
and found it a queendom, a wild queendom.'

In this bold and resonant gathering of poems, Liz Berry turns her distinctive voice to the transformative experience of new motherhood. Her poems sing the body electric, from the joy and anguish of becoming a mother, through its darkest hours to its brightest days. With honesty and unabashed beauty, they bear witness to that most tender of times - when a new life arrives, and everything changes.

A stirring new gathering of poems about motherhood from award-winning poet, Liz Berry (author of Black Country)

About the Author
Liz Berry is an award-winning poet and author of the critically acclaimed collections Black Country (Chatto, 2014); The Republic of Motherhood (Chatto, 2018); The Dereliction (Hercules Editions, 2021) a collaboration with artist Tom Hicks; and most recently The Home Child (Chatto, 2023), a novel in verse. Liz's work, described as "a sooty soaring hymn to her native West Midlands" (Guardian), celebrates the landscape, history and dialect of the region. Liz has received the Somerset Maugham Award, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and Forward Prizes. Her poem 'Homing', a love poem for the language of the Black Country, is part of the GCSE English syllabus. Liz is a patron of Writing West Midlands and lives in Birmingham with her family.

Reviews
An electrifying collection of poems that makes your heart sing -- Jessie Burton * The Daily Telegraph *
Alongside the tender, heart-breaking moments, there's humour and a visceral energy. These poems transport you, there's something primal in their intimacy... Berry doesn't hold anything back with this collection, its beauty lies in her willingness to embrace the unspoken, the hidden...the wisdom and insight within its pages to be passed around amongst those finding their way into their new identity -- Degna Stone
Sure to be a comfort to many new mothers, a salve to the soul during a time of huge change * Evening Standard *
The Republic of Motherhood gives us poems of the greatest importance... This is writing to carry round with you, a pamphlet to open in a schoolroom, a hospital, on a train, in a street, and share its words, its great life and its love, with everyone you can -- The Poetry School
There was an electric charge to this pamphlet... It's a pamphlet of love in darkness, full of poems which have something of the holy relic about them -- Judges, Michael Marks Award



Book Information
ISBN 9781784742676
Author Liz Berry
Format Paperback
Page Count 32
Imprint Chatto & Windus
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 32g
Dimensions(mm) 170mm * 120mm * 3mm