Horse-Man

Description

Shortlisted for the 2021 Ledbury Munthe Best Second Collection Prize

We are losing everything. In the second decade of the 21^st century, loss and grief have become our daily bread, but we do not know how to chew it. Em Strang’s second poetry collection Horse-Man is an invitation to reacquaint ourselves with the lost skill of co-sufficiency; to re-engage with a deeper awareness of shared experience, where distinctions between self and other begin to blur: we are all in this together.

Horse-Man inhabits at times surreal, at times mystical territory, where the human and nonhuman merge and blend. In this liminal space, loss and grief are acknowledged and sometimes embraced, allowing the human small mercies in the face of That Which Is Greater Than Us.

Part keening, part celebration, this new work immerses the reader in a powerful advocacy of sacred meaning and – fiercely, bravely – asks what it might mean to be whole, a fully embodied human being, in today’s world.

A long-term Dark Mountain supporter and collaborator, Em Strang has been a member of the steering-group, has co-organised the poetry stage at one of the early Uncivilisation festivals, and more latterly worked for a number of years as poetry editor on the books.

Horse-Man is her second full collection of poetry, published in October 2019 by Shearsman. Cover art by Kate Walters.