Become a Readings Member to make your shopping experience even easier. Sign in or sign up for free!

Become a Readings Member. Sign in or sign up for free!

Hello Readings Member! Go to the member centre to view your orders, change your details, or view your lists, or sign out.

Hello Readings Member! Go to the member centre or sign out.

Girl
Paperback

Girl

$34.99
Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to your wishlist.

A portrait in verse of two iconic female figures - the Virgin Mary and the Cretan 'snake goddess' - unravelling the millennia of myth men have woven around them.

A fresh and questioning look at girlhood and its icons, unravelling the millennia of myth woven around girls.

In Girl, Ruth Padel presents a triptych of interlocking sequences. A moving retelling of the Christian story transforms the Virgin Mary into a girl in a Primark T-shirt, facing a life shaped by divine will. Unearthed from the Cretan labyrinth, a prehistoric Snake Goddess is reshaped at the hands of a male archaeologist.

Between these evocative figures, myth turns personal. Delicately crafted lyrics, sometimes taking adventurous shapes, explore snapshots from the poet's own life blended with archetypes from India, European fairy tale, ancient Greece and Urban Dictionary- girl as soul, girl as creative energy, girl as the sacred power of nature, vulnerable but unstoppable. 'Listening to the snowmelt / of the patriarchy', Girl is an urgent, revelatory work for today.

A Poetry Book Society Special Commendation

Read More
In Shop
  • Carlton (Low stock)
  • Chadstone (Low stock)
  • Doncaster (Low stock)
  • Emporium (Low stock)
  • Hawthorn (Low stock)
  • Malvern (Low stock)
  • St Kilda (Low stock)
Shipping & Delivery

$9.00 standard shipping within Australia
FREE standard shipping within Australia for orders over $100.00
Express & International shipping calculated at checkout

MORE INFO
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Vintage Publishing
Country
United Kingdom
Date
11 February 2025
Pages
128
ISBN
9781784745806

A portrait in verse of two iconic female figures - the Virgin Mary and the Cretan 'snake goddess' - unravelling the millennia of myth men have woven around them.

A fresh and questioning look at girlhood and its icons, unravelling the millennia of myth woven around girls.

In Girl, Ruth Padel presents a triptych of interlocking sequences. A moving retelling of the Christian story transforms the Virgin Mary into a girl in a Primark T-shirt, facing a life shaped by divine will. Unearthed from the Cretan labyrinth, a prehistoric Snake Goddess is reshaped at the hands of a male archaeologist.

Between these evocative figures, myth turns personal. Delicately crafted lyrics, sometimes taking adventurous shapes, explore snapshots from the poet's own life blended with archetypes from India, European fairy tale, ancient Greece and Urban Dictionary- girl as soul, girl as creative energy, girl as the sacred power of nature, vulnerable but unstoppable. 'Listening to the snowmelt / of the patriarchy', Girl is an urgent, revelatory work for today.

A Poetry Book Society Special Commendation

Read More
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Vintage Publishing
Country
United Kingdom
Date
11 February 2025
Pages
128
ISBN
9781784745806

Featured in

See what the Readings’ team have to say on the blog, discover related events and podcast episodes.