Playwright Anna Jordan Releases Intimate Debut Poetry Collection

Award-winning playwright, screenwriter, poet and director Anna Jordan (Yen, Royal Exchange; Succession, HBO; Killing Eve, BBC) will release her first poetry collection this May. Published by Broken Sleep Books, Decade is a fierce, autobiographical collection, bringing together poems written across ten tumultuous years of her life. This intimate debut book of poems presents a reading brimmed with dark humour and sudden tenderness.

Set against recognisable rooms and public spaces, from a seaside Premier Inn to her childhood kitchen, Jordan's collection of poems explores the tribulations of life. Decade weaves through miscarriages, maternal loss, parenting, separation, depression and falling hopelessly in love to create a poetic journey of human experience. Written in Jordan's renowned direct and theatrical style, the poems hold both comedy and despair in the same breath.

Decade offers a captivating insight into Jordan's widely recognised career. Awarded the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting for Yen, Jordan has also written for television across Netflix, HBO and the BBC. Decade marks her debut poetry collection, drawing inspiration from her father, who wrote Jordan's mother a poem every day for 25 years until she died, which were later published online as the collection A love in verse.

Playwright, screenwriter, poet and director, Anna Jordan, shares, "Poetry is a thrilling new way for me to play with words. I've been writing it for a long time - but only recently got serious about it - whatever that means! I hope anyone that has experienced loss, separation, depression, parenthood or falling in love will be able to find something they can relate to in Decade. It's been a roller coaster of a ten years for me - both good and bad - and it feels great to put that together in one place."

The release of Decade coincides with Jordan's translation of Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, opening at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It is the first time Brecht has been performed there. The production echoes similar themes of motherhood and loss explored in her poetry collection.

Purchase at https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/anna-jordan-decade