HYMNAL

My first poetry collection - available here: https://www.parthianbooks.com/collections/pre-order/products/hymnal

‘Julia Bell calls Hymnal ‘a memoir in verse’, an exhumation of her strange and peripatetic childhood as the daughter of an evangelistic English priest, convinced that God has told him to minister to the heathens of West Wales.  Julia Bell pulls us deep into her memory, where depth charges lie planted, which are then detonated to great effect. We are there, in her moment, and though her eye is unwavering and her wit biting, it is never at the cost of empathy . . . It is Bell’s unfolding picture of fundamentalism that makes this a collection not just of her past, but also our present, and our increasingly dark future.’ Planet

‘This work bursts forth in relentless, rich images. It’s a record of an exhausting, lonely coming of age, hard won. Its overriding power resides in the knowledge that one must understand one’s own needs, escape conformity, and find a way of living which liberates the true self.’ Maggie Mackay The Friday Poem

‘Hymnal is an intimate and beautifully personal memoir in poetry. Exploring a fixed formative period of her life, from just. Before her birth through to the cusp of adulthood. Julia Bell uses poetry to conjure the people, places and feelings of youth in the restrictive religious communities of the Welsh coast.’  Gwales

 ‘The work is nigh on perfect.  As poetry, it is exquisite, just as you’d expect from a writer as accomplished as Bell.  She produces verse that is somehow simultaneously dainty and meaty, and clearly adores words and what can be done with them. It is taken to another level by her mastery of the subject matter.  Religious fundamentalism, national identity, class, sickly family dynamics and homophobia are all difficult topics that can easily overwhelm fine writing, but Bell dances past the pitfalls with such grace and style, without ever cheapening their reality.  Bell calls her poems ‘exploded memories – small snapshots in time’, intensely personal moments that she renders universal.  Her outsider-insider takes on Welshness are especially thrilling, but in truth, there is no duff topic here, no slight slip-up anywhere in this consistently brave and brilliant collection.’ Mike Parker Wales Arts Review Book of the Year

‘Hymnal tells the story of a childhood, teens, and young adulthood as Bell becomes, well, herself – questioning, reflecting, wondering, and queer. Life in her early beginnings seems “subdued”, stifled, at times, by the rigors of religion; or else there are places and spaces in her Welsh upbringing that are tinged with hidden terror (“there were eyes in the trees, watching”). Autobiographical, alluring, with keen evocations of Welsh setting and clever reworkings of Christian images, Julia Bell’s Hymnal is a hymn to “the possibilities of … life unfolding”. Amen to that.’ Buzz Magazine