Glos Mythos
Glos Mythos brings together the poetry of JLM Morton with the satirical prose of Emma Kernahan and original cartoons by illustrator Bill Jones. The collection emerged from friendship, dog walks and a shared fascination with the ways ideas about archetypes, folklore and myth gain popularity during times of adversity. The Stroud Association of Mythical Entities manifested during the pandemic. As Emma researched local history, she noticed how the concerns in historical parish documents echoed the threads on contemporary Facebook community pages – and how little had really changed over the centuries. The Association is Emma’s way of talking about our anarchic, unruly and sometimes unpalatable past, how it shapes our present, and what happens when you’re stuck in the same community for a really, really long time… JLM Morton’s poetry in Glos Mythos began during her lockdown swim-walk of the river Churn, 23 miles from the source at Seven Springs to its confluence with the River Thames. The journey led her to explore the deeper time of an ancient local past, forgotten women’s rites and rituals and to encounters with the archives, Romano-Celt statuary and a residency at Corinium Museum, Cirencester.
Emma Kernahan
Emma Kernahan lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and started writing comedy and short stories while at home (and in the car) with small children. These days, at work she writes about the government’s latest policies, and the rest of the time she writes jokes.
JLM Morton
JLM Morton is a writer and poet whose work explores rural identity and belonging, ancestry, place and practices of care, repair and solidarity across human and other-than-human worlds. Winner of the Laurie Lee, Geoffrey Dearmer, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Poetry and International Dylan Thomas Day prizes, her work is published widely including in The Poetry Review, The Rialto, Magma, Poetry Birmingham, Places of Poetry, Sunday Telegraph and recently in Living With Water (Manchester University Press, 2023). In 2023 she was longlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize. Her first full poetry collection Red Handed is forthcoming with Broken Sleep Books (2024). She is currently poet in residence at Sladebank Woods, a semi-urban woodland sandwiched between a housing estate and an AONB. Find her online at: jlmmorton.com