Slip

One in three women in Britain have an abortion. For such a common procedure, it has not been the subject of a dedicated book of poetry – not, at least, until now.

One in three women in Britain have an abortion. For such a common procedure, it has not been the subject of a dedicated book of poetry – not, at least, until now.

Winner of the Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize 2025

‘Painful, brave and steadfastly honest’ ANDREW MCMILLAN

‘Original, essential… An unforgettable collection’ FIONA BENSON

Amelia Loulli opens this fearless, frank, absorbing debut with the words ‘I’m going to tell you what happened’, and that is precisely what she does. With these careful, generous, insistent poems, we are led through the experience of abortion and surprised at every turn. There is vulnerability and despair, there is the shame and silence too, but there is also the constant, steady pulse of compassion, tenderness and wonder at the world.

Slip is a daring book, not just in subject but in style- skilfully worked, integrating the rich terror of nursery rhymes and folk tales with the bland banalities and euphemisms of social interaction, of medical techniques. It is also, sadly, a necessary book – provocative and transformative poetry about women as mothers and survivors. A cry of fury and a cry of love.

Author Biography

Amelia Loulli is a PhD candidate at Newcastle University where she researches the poetics of breath and writing trauma. In 2021 she won a Northern Writers’ Award and in 2023 she was writer in residence at the British School in Rome. She currently lives in Cumbria with her three teenagers and their whippet.