Birds don't fly with leads, says thirteen-year-old Avis when confronted by the limitations imposed on her at school. She has epilepsy and some of the teachers want to stop her participating in the sport she loves most. Susan Hawthorne captures the voice and longings of a child at the edge of self-realisation.This collection draws on the experience of epilepsy mixed with imagination, mythic consciousness and an intense realisation of life.

The Muses have been sacked their role in the pantheon sold up for some new real estate venture When the Muses are sacked, what are we to do? The Muses who inspire poetry, astronomy, history and daily living bring their song and dance into present-day political struggles. These Muses are for rebellion. Susan Hawthorne's poems span millennia of resistance by women. The earth itself is implicated. She writes about women's bodies, how they are used, abused...

The flap of a butterfly's wing in one part of the world can cause devastating storms on the other side, just as the word "lesbian"-a force full of vitality and world-changing creativity-can destroy families and bring down governments. Evoking the ancient worlds of pre-Vedic and Sapphic lovers, medieval jonglaresas, and nuns "fingering petals and hips," as well as the contemporary world of circuses, global politics, friendship, betrayal, and death,...

This collection of imagist poems combines mythology, archaeology, and translation. Susan Hawthorne draws on the history and prehistory of Rome and its neighbors to explore how the past is remembered. Under the guidance of Curatrix, Director of the Musæum Matricum, and Latin poet, Sulpicia, travelers Diana and Agnese are led through the mythic archives about wolves and sheep before attending an epoch-breaking party to which they are invited by Empress...