Dorothy

Briony Hughes’ Dorothy flows using a series of ‘via’ poems to explore the relationship of the River Thames to the politics of the female body and beyond. Dorothy is a secret history, or better, a reclaiming of history, salvaging centuries of silenced women from the tide; the patriarchal ownership of the river and its iconic Waterloo Bridge. Briony Hughes writes with elan and clear eyed intent, to quote her illustrious forbearer Adrienne Rich, she: “came to explore the wreck. / The words are purposes. / The words are maps.'