Noah

On her shelves Penelope Shuttle found several Old English dictionaries belonging to her late husband Peter Redgrove, which she studied until their strange and mysterious vocabulary found its way into a sequence of poetry. Here Shuttle's writing of animals, based upon a reading of a medieval mystery play about Noah and The Deluge, is connected and intertwined with current environmental concerns. The magic and richness of biblical stories is present as mythology rather than theology, and sees Penelope Shuttle utilise the title character as a critique of patriarchal attitudes, particularly in regard to Emzara, Noah's wife. This is a remarkable work that brings the past into the present, and reimagines a better future.