Preview: The Girl In The Garden by Sapphira Olson (trans poetry)

A special treat for readers today!

When Sapphira Olson emailed asking me to review her upcoming poetry collection, The Girl In The Garden, I was flattered by torn.

Semi-autobiographical and infused with Celtic myths and legends including the birds of Rhiannon, the god Lug and Niamh the golden-headed daughter of the King of the Land of Youth, the poems give a profound and personal insight into the world of a transwoman.

That sounded so lovely, and I immediately wanted to help spread the word, but I knew I was the wrong person to review it. As someone who has never connected well with poetry, I did not trust myself to do it any sort of justice. Instead, I asked Sapphira if she could share a poem from the collection so I could tempt you all into pre-ordering a copy . . . and she agreed!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

A FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time,

a story began with a woman

not a man.

Although, when I was a child,

I was not aware of this.

I was, it seems, for a very long time,

an unreliable narrator

of my own past events.

A stock phrase in a fairy tale

which I didn’t even know

I was in.

There was once,

there is once,

it was once,

one day, a long time ago,

beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers,

in a land of myth, and a time of magic,

in a time already long past,

a girl was born.

And she was me.

I will also lay claim to the

traditional ending…

‘and she lived happily ever after.’

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

The Girl in the Garden: YEAR ONE (ORIGINS Book 1)
by Sapphira Olson

'I stop for a moment.
You see, I am crying.
I cry all the time.
It’s the nature of things,
you see.'

THE GIRL IN THE GARDEN is a collection of 30 poems from STANLEY PARK author Sapphira Olson themed around being transgender.

Semi-autobiographical and infused with Celtic myths and legends including the birds of Rhiannon, the god Lug and Niamh, the golden-headed daughter of the King of the Land of Youth, the poems give a profound and personal insight into the world of a transwoman.

When Sapphira happens upon the girl in the garden it is a start of her world been radically transformed as she finds a paradise with a great oak at its centre, where the girl lives. Dealing with themes of emotional, spiritual and physical transition, abuse, coming out to family and misgendering the poems leave a lasting and profound impression. Providing inspiration and hope to those that are transgender and an insight for those who are interested in knowing more about what it is like to be transgender, the collection is a glimpse into this world that is unique and life changing.

Illustrated throughout by the author herself, in beautiful black inks, THE GIRL IN THE GARDEN (YEAR ONE) is book one in the ORIGINS series, with YEAR TWO planned for 2021.

Sapphira Olson is the pen name of author and poet Sapphira Olson French. Born in Cornwall she now lives in Luton. Faithfully LGBT, she is a trans woman with six published novels, including An Android Awakes, Fictional Alignment and The Dandelion Trilogy.

Nominated for the Galaxy British Book Awards and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, she has been a senior editor of The View From Here literary magazine and has interviewed authors such as Julian Barnes, Iain Banks and Markus Zusak.

She also has a short story collection published by Elsewhen Press called Parables which was born out of her experiences and deconstruction and ‘escape’ from a strict evangelical church.

Stanley Park was her first collection of poetry, which was a surprise to her, The Girl in the Garden even more so.

When not writing she loves spending time in the countryside and enjoys watching Audrey Hepburn movies and listening to Dido and Caravan Palace. 

https://www.sapphiraolson.com/
@SapphiraOlson (Twitter)
@sapphiraolson (Instagram)