A year in the making, it's my pleasure to present Wagtail, the debut anthology of poetry from Butcher's Dog Publishing with many thanks to the support from ERIAC, the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture.
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Wagtail celebrates voices and visions from the margins. The book seeks to address historic and ongoing failures by the publishing industry to fairly represent the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) diaspora.
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My foreword details the provenance of this inclusive international publication and explains why it is vital mainstream publishing brings traditionally excluded voices into print.
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Here, established poets share pages with the previously unheard and unpublished. In solidarity against hate and all forms of misogyny: 'The Roma Women's Poetry Anthology' includes writing by gender-fluid, non-binary and transgender writers.
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The Wagtail anthology features specially commissioned artworks by Delaine Le Bas and Imogen Bright Moon, alongside twenty-six astounding poets.
Cover artwork: ‘Wagtail’, 116 x180 cm, handwoven blanket in rare-breed & rescue wools; Southdown, Shetland, Welsh Mountain, by Imogen Bright Moon, 2021. brightmoon.co
