The Universe is an Animal

Jessica Mookherjee

ISBN: 9781916760523

eISBN: 9781916760530

Price: £11.99

Publication date: 5^th November 2026

Format: Paperback / eBook

Territories: World

Extent: 72pp

DCF: Poetry Collections

In this time of seismic geopolitical and climatic change, to be human is to be faced with choices born of urges, desires and expectations – and personal decisions on whether or not to make more humans.

The Universe is an Animal by Jessica Mookherjee follows a woman’s journey through post-colonialism in the present, into an uncertain and ever-shifting universe of fears and dreams. These poems explore the fragility of a body facing the enormity of a future world and the human need for creation, resilience, and each other.

Jessica Mookherjee is a British poet of Bengali heritage and grew up in Wales and London, and now lives in Kent. She has been published in many journals and anthologies, and was twice highly commended for Best Single Poem in the Forward Prizes in 2017 and 2021. Author of three previous collections from Nine Arches Press, her second collection, Tigress, was shortlisted for the Ledbury Prize in 2021. She has two pamphlets, Playlists and Desire Lines with Broken Sleep Books. Jessica has a background in biological socio-ecology and public mental health. She also runs workshops and mentors poets.

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