Glowflake, Rocket, Small Skies, Kind Spears, Marilyn . . .
Moss is known as the living carpet but if you look really closely, it contains an irrepressible light. In Twelve Words for Moss, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett celebrates the unsung hero of the plant world with her unique blend of poetry, nature writing and memoir. Making her way through wetlands from Somerset to Country Tyrone, Burnett discovers the hidden vibrancy of these overlooked spaces, renaming her favourite species of moss as she recovers from her grief at her father’s death and draws inspiration from the resilience and tenacity of her plant – and human – friends.
Elizabeth-Jane Burnett is a poet and academic whose research explores environmental issues through creative writing. She is the author of The Grassling, an exploration of memory and natural history, and a contributor to The Guardian‘s ‘Country Diary’ column. She has also published two poetry collections: Swims, a Sunday Times Poetry Book of the Year, and Of Sea.