The Winter Wizard

<p>Sam Retallick's <em>The Winter Wizard</em> is a folkloric sequence that blends whimsy melancholy and myth in an imaginative coming-of-age narrative. Set in a liminal landscape of moor woodland and sea the poem conjures a dreamlike Cornwall populated by magical figures talking bobbins and vanished saints. Through deceptively simple language and shifting forms Retallick explores grief seasonal transition and queer self-invention with a lyrical clarity that holds both humour and tenderness. The result is a strange and quietly moving mythopoeic tale shaped by place magic and memory.</p>