Wain

by Rachel Plummer, Helene Boppert

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 126
Rating:

Synopsis:

Wain is a collection of LGBT themed children's poetry based on retellings of Scottish myths. The collection contains stories about kelpies, selkies, and the Loch Ness Monster, alongside perhaps lesser-known mythical people and creatures, such as wulvers, Ghillie Dhu, and the Cat Sìth. These poems immerse readers in an enriching, diverse and enchanting vision of contemporary life. The poems in this collection are fun, surprising, and full of a magical mix of myth and contemporary LGBT themes – it is a perfect read for children who are learning more about themselves, other people, and the world around them. Wain is fully illustrated, and suitable for readers of all ages.

Rachel Plummer’s Wain is a book of poems that reimagine various Scottish folktales and stories with LGBT twists: a selkie story is a trans story, a sea spirit flirts with a sea captain, etc. The poems are illustrated by Helene Boppert, in the same style as on the cover.

I definitely like the idea of the collection, though I found some of it a bit… obvious? Selkie story as trans narrative, for example. It’s not that it’s not fitting, or that I don’t think there should be trans selkie stories, so it’s hard to articulate just what I mean. Lacking in subtlety, perhaps? Though again, I don’t think subtlety is required. Several of the poems also had a kind of obviousness about them — a lack of layers and mystery, I suppose. I especially don’t get along with the ones that are just a bunch of sentences with full-stops, a collection of statements. I get that it is aimed at kids, but kids can handle subtlety.

That said, the art is lovely, and there were poems I liked. My favourite was ‘Green Lady’, in which a dead person has to choose a colour they want to take with them in death, which ends:

“Green as a sapling too soon torn
from its bank by a winter storm.
Green as the wide lawn’s wet grass.
Green as my dress —

the first I’d ever worn.”

That poem definitely worked for me!

So not a bad collection, and there’s definitely stuff to enjoy — especially, I suspect, for queer kids, the intended audience.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)