The fear of stepping into focus

'My pen wants to write these difficult feelings, these shallow embarrassments—but I am afraid of my pen and its truths. I am afraid of the cost of writing the realities of my body. I am scared to be truly looked at, to be perceived for my obvious weakness.'

Essay 9th September 2025

Madame Helena on the Prom

Poetry Issue 43, Volume 2: Winter 2020-21

Liz Quirke

Liz Quirke is a poet and lecturer in creative writing. Salmon Poetry published her collections The Road, Slowly in 2018 and How We Arrive in Winter in 2021. Her third collection Halfway Home is nearing completion and is expected to be published in 2026. Quirke has a PhD in Poetry by Creative Practice from the University of Galway and lectures at University College Cork. She is currently working on a non-fiction essay collection on queer family dynamics and poetry. www.lizquirkewriter.com