A New Poetry Anthology from Nine Pens
full details What would you protect? A curlew calling across an empty moor. The last pub in a village. A language passed between generations. A library threatened with closure. The right to be different, to belong, to exist without apology. In a world where so much feels increasingly precarious, Nine Pens is inviting poets to consider what matters, what is at risk and what deserves to be defended. Protect the... is a new poetry anthology exploring the things we stand to lose and the things we refuse to surrender. We are looking for poems that engage imaginatively with the idea of protection, whether through the natural world, cultural heritage, community, identity, language, memory or the freedoms we sometimes take for granted. We are particularly interested in poems that approach the theme in unexpected ways. Protection can be an act of love, resistance, preservation or defiance. It can also be complicated, contradictory or even unwelcome. What do we choose to ...