Mona Sings

Former Manx Bard Annie Kissack has unveiled her latest work, Mona Sings, all inspired by the island she loves she much.

Supported by Culture Vannin, Mona Sings includes some black and white illustrations by Annie’s sister, Jenny Kissack.

Annie said: ‘If you like walking in the Manx countryside, wondering about history and folklore and language, reflecting on the world in general, then I hope you will find much to enjoy here. These poems are very much a personal response to the place I love and in which I grew up. Some of them originate in childhood memories, while others are more contemporary but I am most engaged in those things which are timeless and perhaps a little mystical.’

If I could paint, I would paint this land for you,
claim it in its vivid autumn hues before the sun drops
into the gaping mouth of the Sloc
and the lights go down
on this side of the hill.
(from the poem ‘Knowing our Places’, Mona Sings)

She added: ‘Out of the may poems I’d written, a broadly seasonal theme emerged and this is how I eventually organised the book, running from early in the year to Christmas. Doing this, I discovered I’d masses of poems for spring and not so many for winter, so perhaps I am a more optimistic person that I hitherto suspected. But the book as a whole is full of weather, moods, landscapes and people interacting one way or another.’

‘The book is slightly unusual in that, although most of the poems are in English, I’ve included a few poems in Manx Gaelic. As a Manx speaker, I am very aware of the important place of that language in our culture and would like to see it used more. These particular poems were first written in Manx but I have also included loose translations in English, some of which might stand as poems in their own right’.

Mona Sings is available from the Bridge Bookshop in Port Erin and Ramsey for £7.99.