Ultimately though, I would say that this is a great first read to test the waters with Gill’s work and I’d definitely recommend it to any avid poetry reader or poet themselves. Rather than a growing development and ‘journey’ through the different themes, it became tiresome as it flipped back and forth and dwelled on some of them. I hate to leave this section on a bad note but my only little niggle was the fact that it was slightly repetitive in areas. She slightly changes the classic tales from mythology and princesses to show them in a feminist light and highlight how toxic society can be – which was so refreshing and truly enjoyable to read. I had such a huge appreciation for her revisited, or should I say rewritten, fairytales and goddesses in her writing. I think I’d characterise this work as very much ‘ self-care-poetry‘: I cannot tell you how much solace and comfort that it brought me. I also really appreciate Gill’s comparisons to nature and universe, an ongoing tool she’s also used in her other works, and how it relates to our acceptance and growth in personal ways. I love the themes she uses, especially those of rebellion and revolution they definitely light that fire in you which is such a powerful thing. I also think her choice of words works beautifully in this work as it’s lyrical and there’s a musicality to the language which is incredibly moving at times. The language is both gentle and fierce, charged with so much emotion whether it be recognition, anger, rage, love, empowerment… I could go on. There’s a strong sense of validation and empowerment to her work. I wanted to share a few books by Gill that I’ve read and fell in love with over the past couple of years Wild Embers Poems of rebellion, fire and beautyĪs I mentioned above, this was my first experience of Gill’s work: a collection of both poetry and prose. Nikita Gill’s Wild Embers: Poems of rebellion, fire and beauty served as a welcome distraction and so I escaped into a new world of modern poetry. As I’ve mentioned here before, I got into poetry during the very beginning of the pandemic, when the world stopped and emotionally I just felt numb and consequently didn’t know what to do with myself. I remember seeing some of her work online years ago but it weren’t until I read Wild Embers that I really became entranced by her words.

Nikita Gill is one of the first modern poets who’s work I delved into when I first started getting into poetry.

Wild embers poem