Pray for Us Sinners

Like the free spirits she champions, Joolz Denby's poems dazzle us with their bold flourishes and headstrong gestures. Untamed, and previously unsung, her characters are cast from the wrong side of town, or the wrong side of history. And given voice by Joolz's pen, each takes their 15 minutes of forever the only way they can - defiantly and by cutting loose. The whirlwind of words that is Denby's fifth collection builds legends within legends, retells myths and casts new ones where you least expect them. Characters like the thrill-seeking 'Two Lanes' dashing through motorway traffic, or Chicken Boy, hidden away in the unforgiving dark, are fleshed out alongside characters from Beowulf, naval explorers, and new renditions of the Holy Mother. Elsewhere we get classic anthems against cynicism like 'Boy, You Need the Road', entreating us to fight doubt and trust our own recklessness.