Rare Birds by Natalie Scott

Rare Birds by Natalie Scott

Rare Birds creatively re-imagines the rich and gripping story of Holloway Prison through the voices of prisoners, staff and others connected to its history, in order to explore some of the injustices of the penal system during its first hundred years. Natalie Scott's meticulously researched, moving and lyrical poems bring to life well-known voices such as Ruth Ellis, Sylvia Pankhurst, Emily Wilding Davison and Edith Thompson, plus a host of lesser-known names, to tell Holloway's story in a truly unique and fascinating way.

Hear inmates at their most vulnerable moments: Ruth Ellis in the last few minutes as she stands at the scaffold describing her executioner; Edith Thompson believing she will be given a stay due to her pregnancy; Selina Salter on her return to prison after being recorded as a lunatic. Join in with rousing suffragette songs composed whilst in prison; hear the testimonies of hunger strikes and forcible feeding; and learn about the shocking differences in treatment shown towards 1st and 3rd division inmates.

Despite Holloway Prison's notoriety as a women's prison, the poems voice women in roles other than that of criminal: there are social campaigners, comrades, as well as sisters, daughters, mothers, wives, lovers and companions. The collection explores many topics which are still just as relevant today: human rights, gender, sexuality, mental illness and socio-economic status, with some of the problems women faced in the 19th century being not so different from the issues they face now.

Scott, Natalie: - Natalie Scott is a poet and educator from the North East of England. She is the author of Berth: Voices of the Titanic (Bradshaw Books, 2012), and two pamphlets: Brushed (Mudfog, 2009) and Frayed (Indigo Dreams, 2016). Both Berth and Rare Birds received Arts Council England funding to be adapted for the theatre: the latter was workshopped with an award-winning team of West End actors and composers, and showcased at the Soho Theatre in London. Natalie shares her working time between the north and south, as a freelance writer for community projects and Creative Writing Lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth. She has a cat called Fizban (the Fabulous) and once folded Sir Peter Ustinov's pyjamas. Find her on Twitter @NatalieAnnScott.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781912436255
ISBN 10	1912436256
Title	Rare Birds
Author	Natalie Scott
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Valley Press
Year published	2020-03-08
Number of pages	146
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.