Enter the wondrous world of the Selkie.
According to Celtic legend, a selkie is a seal underwater and a woman on land. Sometimes she emerges from the ocean, shedding her white selkie-coat to dance on the sand in moonlight. In the liminal space of the shore, she is vulnerable to capture by a man, and she may become a man’s wife and the mother of children. In Song of the Selkie, the Selkie voices her experience of being caught between two worlds: one of the sea, of freedom, and the other of marriage and motherhood. Other voices join in: a Lighthouse-Keeper, the spirit of Ruth, and even a baby. Through these poems, readers can enjoy the extraordinary magic of selkie stories, and-through their retelling-gain insight into experiences of love and loss, the fears and choices experienced by women, and of finding hope in the future.
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DR. JANE BEAL is a poet and academic. Jane was born, raised, and educated in northern California, where she received her Ph D from UC Davis in English literature. She now teaches at the University of La Verne in southern California. Along with poetry, Jane writes fiction, creative nonfiction, literary criticism, and music. She is also a certified midwife.
In addition to SONG OF THE SELKIE, Jane is the author of many other poetry collections, including SANCTUARY, RISING: POEMS FOR AMERICA, and TRANSFIGURATION: A MIDWIFE’S BIRTH POEMS. She has also done several recording projects, 'Songs from the Secret Life, ’ 'Love-Song, ’ and, with her brother Andrew Beal, 'The Jazz Bird.’
Visit Jane at janebeal.wordpress.com.