Wain: LGBT reimaginings of Scottish folktales

by Rachel Plummer

Overview

Wain is a collection of LGBT themed poetry for teens based on retellings of Scottish myths. The collection contains stories about kelpies, selkies, and the Loch Ness Monster, alongside perhaps lesser-known mythical people and creatures, such as wulvers, Ghillie Dhu, and the Cat Sìth. These poems immerse readers in an enriching, diverse and enchanting vision of contemporary life.

The poems in this collection are fun, surprising, and full of a magical mix of myth and contemporary LGBT themes - it is a perfect read for teens who are learning more about themselves, other people, and the world around them. Wain is fully illustrated in colour, by Helene Boppert.

This is a YA book that includes and discusses many diverse LGBT identities through an array of different characters. This would be ideal for reading with teens who have questions about gender and sexuality, and for those who have LGBT family members and family friends.
The mythological and fantasy elements make it perfect for teens with an interest in myths, legends, fairy tales, and fantasy books.
Aimed at teens aged 13+, the book is suitable for all ages, with no adult content.
This is a collection with true crossover appeal - the rich mix of Scottish mythology and LGBT themes make it a rewarding and illuminating read for adults as well as younger readers.

• The book comes with many pages of notes at the end - a glossary of mythological creatures and people mentioned, as well as writing prompts based on poems in the collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781912915101
Publisher:	The Emma Press
Publication date:	12/01/2019
Pages:	90
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Rachel Plummer is a poet living in Edinburgh. She is a Scottish Book Trust New Writer's Award winner (2016) and has won or placed in numerous other awards and competitions, including the Troubadour Prize, the Flambard Prize, the Penfro, and Canterbury Festival's Poet of the Year Award. Her poetry has appeared in magazines including The Dark Horse, Mslexia, Agenda, Interpreter's House, Gutter and New Walk, and anthologies including New Writing Scotland (2017, published by ASLS), The Emma Press Anthology of Love, and 154 from Live Canon, an anthology of contemporary responses to Shakespeare's sonnets. In 2017 she published a pamphlet of sci-fi poetry with House Press and received a cultural commission from LGBT Youth Scotland to write the poems that appear in Wain. She runs creative writing workshops for children and teens. She has two children, three guinea pigs, and entirely too many books.

Helene Boppert was born in 1992 right in the middle of Germany in a small, sweet village full of ancient trees, old houses and wild animals. With a heavy heart she left her cats with her parents after she graduated school, and moved to the vibrant city of Hamburg to pursue her dream to study Fine Art and Illustration. For four years she took every opportunity to learn her craft, travel and make friends all over the world. She hasn't stopped traveling since. She started working as an illustrator in editorial and book publishing in 2015, and self-published an illustrated book about the lives of codebreakers at Bletchley Park three years later. She has recently taken up university studies in her spare time to further her understanding of human connection and education. Enriched by her childhood's fantasy world and shaped by her experiences in discovering herself, she uses her watercolours to illustrate soft, vivid, imaginative slices of life.

Table of Contents

Poems

Selkie 1

The Seven Big Women of Jura 2

No Man 4

Kelpie 6

Glaistig 7

Love Song for a Wulver 8

The Wulvers’ Daughter 10

Nicnevin, Queen of the Fairies 13

Blue Men of the Minch 15

February 18

The Story of Snow 20

Nimblemen 22

Beira 24

The Well at the World’s End 25

Brownie 28

Changeling 31

Changeling II 32

Ghillie Dhu 33

Finfolkaheem 38

Finman 40

Nessie 42

Nessa’s Song 44

Cat Sìth 46

The Bridge of One Hair 50

Crumple Toes and Shamble Shanks 51

The Deaf River 52

Beithir 54

Bride, Goddess of Spring 55

Green Lady 57

Johnny O’Braidislea 60

Gentle Annie 62

Stoor Worm 64

Mairead 65

Who made this book?

About the poet 69

About the illustrator 70

Bonus Bits

Interview with Rachel 71

Interview with Helene 73

Write your own poem! 75

Glossary of Scottish folklore 77

About the Emma Press 80

Editorial Reviews

"Plummer’s message of supportive positivity and self-affirmation through legend and myth reassures any young reader that there are so many shades of being — that it is important, though often hard, to be who you are or want to be, not what others demand or expect to you be. [...] These poems are a deeply humane and necessary way of rehabilitating the old with the new and I wish as a child I’d had access to such resources as the poems and paintings in Wain." Richie McCaffery, Poetry School

"Rachel Plummer’s Wain represents an ideal project in the field of children’s/YA literature whose aim is to make the queer community feel like a welcomed and valid part of society, as it manages to harness and combine the educational power of folktales and the possibility of inclusive heritage. Though it is primarily targeting Scottish families, the fact itself that it is grounded in mythology gives it potential to appeal to readers all over the world. As such, Wain does not only fulfill the manifesto of LGBT Youth Scotland, but goes beyond it, helping not only Scotland, but the world be the best place to grow up for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people." Tereza Walsbergerová, Re:Views Magazine

From the Publisher