Book Launch: Moon Base One by Jemma L. King

Book Launch: Moon Base One by Jemma L. King

Join us at The Poetry Pharmacy Lab in Bishop’s Castle for the launch of Jemma L. King’s extraordinary third collection Moon Base One, born from the most profound of human experiences – love, loss, and the fight for life itself.

With readings and a Q&A chaired by Parthian Books’ publishing editor, Susie Wild.

‘Raw heart, electric imagery and undeniable skill – Jemma L. King’s best yet.’ – Natalie Ann Holborow

‘Brimful of loss and hope and complexity. I loved it.’ – Emily Blewitt

Join us at The Poetry Pharmacy Lab in Bishop’s Castle for the launch of Jemma L. King’s extraordinary third collection Moon Base One, born from the most profound of human experiences – love, loss, and the fight for life itself.

With readings and a Q&A chaired by Parthian Books' publishing editor, Susie Wild.

When poet Jemma L. King learned that her unborn son faced life-threatening conditions, her world unravelled. In his first fragile months, she turned to poetry to make sense of the impossible, asking: what happens before we begin, and what happens when we meet our most significant endings?

Spanning centuries and continents, this breathtaking collection moves through time and space – from the icefields of Antarctica to the Salem Witch Trials, from ancient Greek myths to the neon-drenched visions of Warhol and McQueen. King’s verse travels to the stars and back, interrogating the boundaries of existence, the fragility of life, and the fierce power of motherhood.

With exquisite lyricism and unflinching insight, Moon Base One is a meditation on survival, rebirth, and the ever-unfolding mystery of what it means to be alive. A cosmic, deeply personal journey that pulses with wonder, it reminds us that even in our darkest moments, we remain part of something vast, luminous, and filled with possibility.

www.parthianbooks.com

Jemma L. King won the Terry Hetherington Young Welsh Writer of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Wales Book of the Year Prize and the Sundress Prize for her debut poetry collection, The Shape of a Forest. Her second collection, The Undressed, was inspired by a cache of antique nude photographs of women, returning voices to those previously lost to history. The first prize winner of the 2024 International Cambrian Mountains poetry competition, Jemma’s latest work has been published by magazines including Acumen, Littoral, and Seaside Gothic. Moon Base One is her third collection. Jemma lives with her husband, son and dog in the Welsh countryside.

Susie Wild is the editor of Wales’ foremost literary magazine, New Welsh Review, as well as the publishing editor at Parthian Books, where she specialises in poetry and fiction. Following an MA in Creative Writing from Swansea University and an MA in Journalism from Goldsmiths, she has built a portfolio career in the arts as a journalist, festival and events organiser, performer, editor and university lecturer. Susie is the author of two poetry collections (Windfalls and Better Houses), the short story collection The Art of Contraception, listed for the Edge Hill Prize, and the novella Arrivals.