The Ivy Hides the Fig-Ripe Duchess

Using a surrealist’s palette of imagery, Ellie Evans’ debut poetry collection takes readers on journeys to a postapocalyptic world and a skewed 18th-century Venice, among other strange destinations. The author’s slant way of approaching narrative is distinctly Celtic, pointing to her Welsh origin. Her poems obliquely hint at childhood trauma, fraught relationships, and a delight in rebellion and escape through the imagination. A fascination with art and history is also incorporated into this collection, which exhibits a deft grasp of form and technique in its sonnets, villanelle, triolets, and free verse.