To ban a book is never just to remove paper from a shelf, it is an attempt to narrow the mind. Long before we learned to write laws, we told stories. Around fires, in whispered songs, scratched on cave walls and, later, pressed into ink, stories carried our warnings, our wisdom, our heritage and our hope. They taught us who we had been and invited us to imagine who we might yet become. Trinity College library, Dublin Reading does more than entertain us, it exercises our moral

If you've ever poured your heart into something you believe matters, began before dawn, written with everything you've got, or showed up day after day to speak honestly about something unconventional, only to feel your voice disappear into the void, all the while polished success is celebrated everywhere you look, know this: it isn't a reflection of your worth. It's the world we live in. Here's why. Back in the day, all people were wired to reward strength because to be part

Prologue Some things are so bad, and you don’t want them to have happened so hard, they break your mind, and you can’t remember them, even if they happened just a few moments before. Chapter One Leaving Halfway Behind me, one of the caged birds scrapes its beak against a perch. I cup the back of my head, trying to keep my arms out of the afternoon sun blazing through the French windows. A rocket of cramp shoots up from my bottom. “Mum, may I get up to use the loo?” Mum’s sp

Click to read the full written interview about Monarch Child, Jen's first poetry pamphlet, with Mark from Word Refiner