Shouting in the Tunnel

Shouting in the Tunnel is a collection of explicitly political poems, written to bring us together, to express our anger at poverty and injustice, and to inspire us to action.

These poems are offered to activists in the trade unions in their everyday struggle for better working conditions; to the anti-racist and anti-fascist movements; to the brave campaigners for action on climate change; to those who have put themselves on the line against the criminalising of Palestine Action; to the hundreds and thousands demonstrating and speaking out against the Gaza genocide; and to everyone struggling for a future free of the cruelty and oppression of capitalism.

Ruth Aylett’s poems are a rallying cry wrapped in tenderness — the kind that reminds you that politics matters, that poetry matters, above all, that people matter. This is poetry that laments the brutality of the past and the present, but sings of the solidarity that will lead us into the future - Josie Long, comedian, actor and broadcaster

For me, from first-hand experience, as an injured striking miner in 1984/5, these lines from Orgreave: more resolute, are more relevant than ever – ‘That was their lesson, a baton on the head, but we became more resolute instead.’

Shouting in the Tunnel is a powerful collection of poems where brutality meets beauty. A clear message from the past to today’s crumbling, decadent empires. At times it is dark but with an underlying message that there is a future out there, built on humanity and solidarity. - Jim Monaghan, Glasgow poet and community activist