between the apple and the bite, poems about women's predicaments in history and mythology

55pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2021

“In these poems Sue Woodward works in a mode of some of the most powerful contemporary poems in English: Deryn Rees-Jones, Fiona Benson and Alice Oswald have recent collections in which Homeric figures are foregrounded.  The poems in Woodward’s collection also have Biblical bases; in a re-imagining and re-contextualisation of old “western” myths we are given new insights into how the old tropes are present in our own psyches.” Joan Metelerkamp, former editor of New Coin

“These poems are an imaginative voicing of Greek goddesses, biblical and contemporary heroines examining age-old gender issues. Beautifully written the poet looks to the past for explanations and also feels for her own voice and way through the personal poems.” Christine Coates, author of The summer we didn’t die

Sue Woodwoard has worked as a teacher and a writer and editor of educational materials and children’s stories. She lives in Cape Town. between the apple and the bite is her debut collection of poetry.