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Mairéad Keenan's second poetry collection, Of Ferns and a Fearless Woman, is a journey through the wild inner landscape of a woman who refuses to turn away from truth. Structured in four movements, the collection carries the reader through distinct seasons of the soul, each one offering its own rhythm, challenge, and gift.
The Reckoning begins in shadow. Here, heartbreak, silence, and the weight of staying small are named without flinching. These poems hold the raw ache of endings and the quiet devastation of carrying wounds too long. Yet even in darkness, there is clarity-a recognition of what can no longer be denied.
The Awakening stirs with breath and light. It is the season of roots pressing through soil, of new truths rising stubbornly toward the surface. These are poems of discovery, of recognising the self beneath the layers, and of hearing the first whispers of possibility after loss.
The Rising roars with courage and fire. In this movement, the voice of a woman grows fierce, choosing again and again to return to herself. These are poems of claiming space, of burning away what does not serve, and of standing unshaken in the storm.
Finally, The Remembering returns the reader to earth, softness, and belonging. This is the season of wholeness reclaimed, where the fragments of a life are gathered with tenderness and honoured for the story they tell.
Written with unflinching honesty, wry humour, and deep tenderness, Keenan's poems speak of love, loss, and transformation in ways that echo far beyond her own experience. They invite the reader to feel everything-the ache, the anger, the hope, the joy-and to walk beside a woman who dares to face it all and stand fearless in her becoming.
Mairéad Keenan's second poetry collection, Of Ferns and a Fearless Woman, is a journey through the wild inner landscape of a woman who refuses to turn away from truth. Structured in four movements, the collection carries the reader through distinct seasons of the soul, each one offering its own rhythm, challenge, and gift.
The Reckoning begins in shadow. Here, heartbreak, silence, and the weight of staying small are named without flinching. These poems hold the raw ache of endings and the quiet devastation of carrying wounds too long. Yet even in darkness, there is clarity-a recognition of what can no longer be denied.
The Awakening stirs with breath and light. It is the season of roots pressing through soil, of new truths rising stubbornly toward the surface. These are poems of discovery, of recognising the self beneath the layers, and of hearing the first whispers of possibility after loss.
The Rising roars with courage and fire. In this movement, the voice of a woman grows fierce, choosing again and again to return to herself. These are poems of claiming space, of burning away what does not serve, and of standing unshaken in the storm.
Finally, The Remembering returns the reader to earth, softness, and belonging. This is the season of wholeness reclaimed, where the fragments of a life are gathered with tenderness and honoured for the story they tell.
Written with unflinching honesty, wry humour, and deep tenderness, Keenan's poems speak of love, loss, and transformation in ways that echo far beyond her own experience. They invite the reader to feel everything-the ache, the anger, the hope, the joy-and to walk beside a woman who dares to face it all and stand fearless in her becoming.