Sotto Voce

In this collection of fifty-two original poems (one for every week of the year) Paula Scollan explores facets of political and human experiences, invoking compassion and empathy in the reader. With eccentric twists the poems are passionate and emotional, contrasting war, poverty, loss, love and death. Many of the poems connect with the writer's daily work experience and she also experiments with trying to find a voice for those less fortunate than herself. Paula is someone who does this really well, managing not to patronise or speak down, but creating believable and memorable characters in her poems the way a fiction writer might in a novel. From contemplation of political sacrifices and the observation of the natural landscape through empathy for prisoners Sotto Voce is a book of unusual coherence and convincing claims.