Minerva and The Whir is Jo D’arc’s debut pamphlet containing a short story and a selection of poetry. The story follows Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, poetry and music as she wakes and wanders the earth, seeking to understand, feeling both enamoured with and disgusted by humanity. The story flirts with ancient mythology, fantasy, magic and spirituality wrapped in a dystopian veil. Commenting on identity politics and class issues, the 5,000-word tale highlights the inequality and hypocrisy of society, questioning the cult of consumption and greed that often fuels our current world view. The story and the additional six poems, Minerva Wakes, She Dances, Clay Mounds, Or Rather, A Rainbow Trickles, As We Turn, and Only Flow explore the impact of technological development and globalisation on humanity, considering where these could lead in light of our fragile reality when faced with extremes of the fanciful.
(Published 21st March 2021)
Minerva and the Whir
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-8384036-1-4
20pp
203 x 127 mmJo D’arc is a popular writer, musician, producer/DJ and artist currently based in Glasgow. Jo sings and plays bass guitar in alternative art-punk band The Twistettes and social-commentary-fuelled dystopian gutter rock act Girobabies. She can also be found behind the decks DJ’ing techno/electro music as DJ Jo D’arc or cranking out sassy soul, doo-wop and pristine pop as Jo Jive and the B-Hive 5.
This year, Jo has created a multi-artform project that combines music, photography, poetry and prose to bring to life her love of world mythology. She wanted to create a new myth for Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, poetry and music. Minerva Wakes includes an album of music, visual art and a published book, Minerva and The Whir, a story and poetry to resonate with the world today while diving into abstract fantasy.