Ablutions for Midsummer by Rachael Boast
A surge of utterance
A glimpse into Seamus Heaney’s inspiration, by Miriam Darlington
The poem
by Rachael Boast
Copyright Rachael Boast 2021. “Ablutions for Midsummer” is published in her latest collection, “Hotel Raphael” (£10.99) printed here by kind permission of Picador, an imprint of Pan Macmillan. Boast was born in Bury St Edmunds, has a PhD from the University of St Andrews and lives in Bristol. Her first volume of poetry, “Sidereal” (Picador, 2011) won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Prize. “Pilgrim’s Flower” (Picador, 2013) was shortlisted for the Griffin Prize and “Void Studies” (Picador, 2016) was shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize
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