Orlam, a beautiful and profound narrative poem set in a magic realist version of the West Country by PJ Harvey, is available now in Picador Poetry hardback format (North America to follow August 1st). It is the product of several years’ intense writing and the first full-length book written in the Dorset dialect for many decades.
Order online or from your local bookstore.
Nine-year-old Ira-Abel Rawles lives on Hook Farm in the village of Underwhelem. Next to the farm is Gore Woods, Ira’s sanctuary, overseen by Orlam, the all-seeing lamb’s eyeball who is Ira-Abel’s guardian and protector. Here, drawing on the rituals, children’s songs, chants and superstitions of the rural West Country of England, Ira-Abel creates the twin realm through which she can make sense of an increasingly confusing and frightening world.
A special edition incorporating Harvey’s own illustrative artwork will be published in October, 2022.
