Published 2026. Paperback, 100pp, 9 x 6ins, £12.95 / $20
ISBN 9781837380060 [Download a sample PDF from this volume here]

A retablo is a painting created in thanks for divine protection or a miracle. In this luminous collection, Michelle Penn transposes the art form into poems that explore aspects of the female experience. Her retablos capture moments of vulnerability, confrontations with politics and societal ideals, the struggle to construct a self, and the search for something to believe in when protection and miracles seem rare. A rich palette of images — from nuclear blast glass and an atomic Madonna to a sword-swallowing Pierrot and a muse-for-hire — creates a compelling picture of endurance, defiance, and ultimately, hope.

Michelle Penn's previous books are Paper Crusade (Arachne Press, 2022) — which was turned into the experimental theatre piece, Storm Child , and performed in 2024 — and S elf-portrait as a diviner, failing (Paper Swans Press, 2018). Michelle works as a freelance interpretation consultant for museums and cultural sites. A dual US/UK national, she lived in Paris for many years and now resides in London.

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