The Mighty Goddess: World Myths - Hardcover

by Sally Pomme Clayton (Author), Sophie Herxheimer (Illustrator)

This stunning collection of myths is for adults, and brings together over fifty goddess myths from across the globe: familiar, unknown, forgotten - spectacular!

Pioneering storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton revitalises powerful goddesses, creating new perspectives and contemporary literature from fragments of myth. Seventy original papercuts by Sophie Herxheimer juxtapose the ordinary and fabulous. Journey from Alaska to Mesopotamia, ancient Rome to Tibet, and follow the goddess from creator to crone.

The Mighty Goddess reimagines ancient myths in poetic language, putting the goddess at the centre of the narrative, exploring the many ways in which goddesses are represented. Words and images delight and subvert, revelling in the female, exploring creativity, desire, destruction and death. This contemporary collection brings goddesses to life in all their glory.

Author Biography

SALLY POMME CLAYTON (do call her Pomme!) is a pioneering storyteller and writer who has been creating performances, books and plays for more than 40 years, and has played a pivotal role in the storytelling revival. She creates unique work for theatres and museums, gardens and galleries, festivals and broadcast across the UK and beyond. Her groundbreaking shows focus on powerful female protagonists, such as 'The Frog Princess Punked', a hybrid performance with girl punk band and live projection. She is author of 15 children's books, several in collaboration with Sophie Herxheimer.

SOPHIE HERXHEIMER is an artist and poet. Her work has been shown at her local allotments, Tate Modern and on a giant mural along the seafront at Margate. She's made a 300m tablecloth for the Thames Festival, a life-size concrete poem in the shape of Mrs Beeton, and a pie on the lawn of an old people's home big enough for seven drama students to jump out of, singing. Her poetry collection Velkom to Inklandt (Short Books, 2017) was a Sunday Times poetry book of the year. Her latest is a deck of prophetic collage cards, INDEX (zimZalla, 2021).