The Natural Way

‘ We’ re trying the natural way’ , Havers once said when asked about children in their queer partnership. What follows is their sparklingly disruptive debut, drawing on inside jokes, ironies and imaginings for new ways of thinking about what we call natural and the ways and paths we choose to get there.

From Oscar Wilde to an unlikely pelican, this book’ s wandering way resists the traditional nature poem, instead digging into the muck and rock of queer wilderness. Formally inventive, these poems span the width of the page and draw on mathematics, tablecloth patterns and swimming pools for their structures. Ingenious and funny, Havers’ debut questions received ideas about inheritance and legacies: what if, it asks, we live outside the familiar, familial archive?

Roma Havers is a queer poet, theatre-maker and unsolicited go-go dancer – from your hometown but living in Manchester with their partner, allotment and every stone they’ ve ever pocketed. Commissioned by Orchestra’ s Live, Manchester City of Literature and Manchester Museum, among many others, they are known for their ‘ joyful, communal and tender’ work. They have been published in Ink Sweat and Tears, Verve Poetry Prize (Shortlisted), The North and Under the Radar. Alongside their poetry work, they have produced writer development programmes, mentored many poets and produced work for performance including their show LOB, which toured the North West and Belfast in 2022, with their play Helmet with Laughter Lines being longlisted for the Bruntwood Playwriting prize the same year. They were winner of the 2024 Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry with The Natural Way, their first collection with Carcanet Press.