Iona Lee launches Anamnesis

Part I of the video recording of this event is here, and part II is here!

'A door, a window, a rupture? The familiar openings and outpourings of Anamnesis are made strange and sacrosanct by Iona Lee, a skilful poet with a mastery of language. This startling debut is equal part stained glass as it is blood-stained' -Dean Atta

She's one of Edinburgh's own and one of Scotland's most celebrated spoken-word poets, and now finally she brings us a full collection: Join us to toast Iona Lee and Anamnesis!

Iona Lee’s debut collection charts the journey of the writer, artist and performer into adulthood. Written in a unique voice, Iona playfully toys with thematic devices in this entertaining exploration of art and artifice, absence and impermanence, truth and tale telling.

Characterised by a deep love of language, its music and its magic, these poems reflect on memory, the future and other hauntings. Wittily observed, this collection is an attempt to connect the stars into tidy constellations, and to join the tiny, inchoate dots of self into something traceable and translatable.

Humorous and self-aware, gentle and philosophical, Anamnesis is written in the knowledge that in telling one’s life-story, one creates it. We can't wait to welcome you all to the bookshop garden for a gorgeous summer launch of a truly gorgeous book.

'Dazzling. Witty. Playful. Wild. Ingenious. It’s easy to run out of adjectives when you’re describing Iona Lee’s astonishing first collection. ‘Is all fire the same fire?’ she asks. Definitely not. These are poems of such energy and brilliance they will continue to burn in the memory long after the book is closed.' -John Glenday

The poet: Iona Lee is a writer, of poetry and non-fiction, an artist, illustrator and spoken-word performer from Edinburgh. She has been a prominent member of Scotland’s live poetry scene for almost ten years, appearing on radio and television, and reading her work in venues and on festival stages across the UK and Europe, including Glastonbury, the Albert Hall and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Iona has been published extensively, in newspapers, anthologies and journals. Her pamphlet (Polygon, 2018) was shortlisted for a Saltire Award and in her upcoming debut collection was shortlisted for an Edwin Morgan Poetry Award in 2022. Follow her at @ionaleepoetry.