Well here we are in September. And with a new month, comes a new Poetic Voice to feature as part of The Book Bag: Poetic Voices. This feature aims to platform and showcase exemplary work from writers I admire across the poetic landscape and runs concurrently with the regular weekly episodes of The Book Bag where I’ll still be sharing thoughts on pamphlets or collections I’ve read through the week.
And this month, I am amazed to announce the Poetic Voice is the exceptionally talented prize-winning poet, someone I’ve read since starting my poetry journey, Pascale Petit.
Pascale Petit was born in Paris and lives in Cornwall. She has published nine poetry collections, four of which were shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Her ninth, Beast, published by Bloodaxe Books in 2025, is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Her eighth, Tiger Girl (Bloodaxe, 2020), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, and for Wales Book of the Year. Her seventh, Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe, 2017), won the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the inaugural Laurel Prize for eco-poetry and was the Poetry Book Society Choice. Her debut novel, My Hummingbird Father, was published by Salt in 2024.
This month, I am sharing the below piece from Pascale’s latest collection ‘Beast’, available here from Bloodaxe Books. This is ‘The Lammergeier Daughter’.
Beast Micro Book Bag Review
As part of this month’s feature, I’ve written a micro review of Pascale’s collection.
The collection explores a range of emotions and experiences through beasts in various environments and forms. With such range comes an expanse of vivid surreal imagery that lifts itself from the page. The book deals with trauma with defiance and resilience acting as counterpoints.
It should come as no surprise that the language throughout the collection is precise and rich. Form varies from prose in ‘The Tala Zone’ of the book to the use of space in ‘Ode To Causse Méjean With Takhi Horses’ to the couplet form in ‘Papa Guêpier’.
As well as ‘The Lammergeier Daughter’ other poems including ‘Butcherbirds’, ‘Swallows’, ‘Vial’, ‘Roebuck’ and ‘Pale-winged Trumpeters’ are among my favourites. I could list at least 10 more.
Beast is an exquisite collection and is in my top five books, I’ve read this year.
Regular readers will know that The Book Bag shares a playlist for the weekly entry, so I thought I’d add an eclectic one here also….
Charlie Parker – Koko
George Benson – Everything Must Change
Florence And The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
John Coltrane – Giant Steps
Louis Armstrong – Snake Rag
Stravinsky – The Rite Of Spring
Oliver Nelson – Ain’t A Thing
Johnny Cash – The Beast In Me
Kings Of Leon – Closer
Imagine Dragons- Radioactive
Stay Poetic,
Paul
Paul Writes Poems 