It was lovely to see Hymnal, Julia Bell's memoir in verse selected as a 2023 Highlight by the Welsh Books Council in their latest newsletter.
'Moving, tender writing with a haunting evocation of place and time.' – Hannah Lowe
'Bell pulls us deep into her memory, where depth charges lie planted which are then detonated to great effect. We are there, in her moment, and though her eye is unwavering and her wit biting, it is never at the cost of empathy... The claustrophobia is gothic and palpable, but never overplayed – testament to Julia Bell’s finesse as a writer, but also her frankly awesome powers of forgiveness.' – Mike Parker, Planet Magazine
'Hymnal is vivid, intense and freeing. There is so much to release; so much deep emotional confusion is explored. Her poems remind me of Sharon Olds’ The Father and Pascale Petit’s The Zoo Father, woven through with threads of trauma and self-discovery ... This work bursts forth in relentless, rich images. It’s a record of an exhausting, lonely coming of age, hard won. Its overriding power resides in the knowledge that one must understand one’s own needs, escape conformity, and find a way of living which liberates the true self.' – Maggie Mackay, The Friday Poem
'These full-throated poems bring to resonant life the story of a daughter whose father’s calling “sits on all our shoulders like a fog”. Bewildered by severities at odds with her body, she wonders at Jonah breathing inside a whale while on land “I do not know which way is up ... The surface is so far down.” Yet the desires of the queer self unfolding in thrilling detail here refuse to be extinguished – the phrasing in Hymnal glistens with the rich clarity of stained glass.' – John McCullough
'Autobiographical, alluring, with keen evocations of Welsh setting and clever reworkings of Christian images, Julia Bell’s Hymnal is a hymn to “the possibilities of … life unfolding”. Amen to that.' – Mab Jones, Buzz Magazine
'The work is nigh on perfect. As poetry, it is exquisite, just as you’d expect from a writer as accomplished as Bell. She produces verse that is somehow simultaneously dainty and meaty, and clearly adores words and what can be done with them... Her outsider-insider takes on Welshness are especially thrilling, but in truth, there is no duff topic here, no slight slip-up anywhere in this consistently brave and brilliant collection.' – Wales Arts Review
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