Sign-In
Cart
Usurper Kings: 10th Anniversary Edition
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781988034829
Publisher: House of Hallowes
Published: Nov 3 2025
Pages: 152
Weight: 0.40
Height: 0.35 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Sapha Burnell's Usurper Kings is a dazzling, cerebral poetry collection that excavates the archetypes, contradictions, and powers of the feminine across time and myth. Structured in five sweeping acts, the collection weaves together mythological, historical, and philosophical sources, interrogating the roles of the divine, gender binaries, misogyny, and societal inequality.
Description & Key Themes
In Usurper Kings, readers encounter a vividly reimagined tapestry of feminine experience-one that inspects iconic figures, explores the divine, and spotlights the marginalized. Burnell's voice is unapologetically bold yet inviting, guiding the reader through meditative explorations of both individual and collective stories that transcend time. The collection is praised for its intellectual depth and emotional clarity, positioning it well within the current landscape of cerebral, reflective poetry.
Usurper Kings is perfect for contemporary readers who seek poetry that is:
Mythopoeic and philosophical
Intersectional, reclaiming mythic narratives for marginalized voices
Lyrical yet precise, with both sharp social commentary and lush imagery
In conversation with modern feminist poetics and ancient archetypes
This is a transformative collection for admirers of Anne Carson, Carol Ann Duffy, and those drawn to mythic resonance, gender commentary, and the reclamation of feminine power in literature. Usurper Kings is essential reading for anyone hungry for poetry that bridges intellect and intimacy, myth and immediacy.
Also from
Burnell, Sapha
Also in
General Poetry
Dante's Vita Nuova, New Edition: A Translation and an Essay
Alighieri, Dante
Pitavy, Francois
Paperback
Sounding the Seasons Enlarged Edition: One Hundred and Ten Sonnets for the Christian Year
Guite, Malcolm
Paperback
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way
Le Guin, Ursula K.
Lao Tzu
Paperback
They Bloom Because of You: Poems on the Infinite Love, Growth, and Magic of Motherhood
Urlichs, Jessica
Paperback
This Is the Main Event: Discovering the Life You Long for in the Life You Have
Smith, Joshua Luke
Hardcover