Poetry review: State Of The Nations by Katrina Moinet

Rachel Taylor-Beales

State Of The Nations is the compelling new poetry collection from award winning Welsh writer Katrina Moinet. As the title suggests, this work invites us to interrogate the global systems that shape our lives. Shifting deftly between raw introspection, scathing political commentary and playful irony, Moinet intersects collective social issues with individual lived experiences.

Over the past year Katrina’s work has been garnering high praise. Portrait of a Young Girl Falling was shortlisted for Wales Book of The Year, while The Art of Silence, a prize-winning pamphlet, was published by Hedgehog Press. State of The Nations, published by Atomic Bohemian, is is Katrina’s third release.

The collection opens with ‘Demockracy’ and from the outset of this misspelled title, we’re confronted with Moinet’s playful manipulation of language, delivering multiple layers of meaning. The visual joke, replacing the central syllable with the homophone ‘mock’, astutely questions whether our current version of democracy is making a mockery of us all, or itself, or both?

An answer is found in the third line of the second stanza: Demockracy, ‘is taking the mick (but don’t take offence).’ Fast forward to the sixth stanza and Moinet’s self-deprecating deference that Demockracy: ‘is standing in the shadow of a greater poem’, alludes to African American Langston Hughes 1949 poem (with the non-misspelled title).

Here Moinet places the pamphlet into a larger cultural context and reminds us as readers that we can’t analyse the present without understanding the context of the past.

State of The Nations is not only a response to the world as Katrina finds it, but also a dialogue through time and history.

This integration of past and present is strikingly clear within ‘Haven’t you already said all there is to say about rape?’ Here the speaker grounds their experience in the present, while also looking ‘centuries back’, surrounded by the untold stories of: ‘ten thousand more mothers & daughters’. Moinet then expands the sense of place within the poem as it becomes repeated in a Welsh Language version: ‘Onid wyt eisoes wedi dweud y cyfan sydd i’w ddweud am dreiso?’

For me this repetition has a two-fold impact. It further develops the universality of women’s experience of being silenced across time and place, but there is an added layer of poignancy bringing to mind the suppression of Welsh Language, by English ruling powers.

Raised in Ynys Mon, Katrina’s ‘about me’ section on their website states: “A working-class upbringing and its inherent struggles gave Katrina grounding in social issues, feminism and entrenched conflicts facing the Welsh community and language at that time, and minority languages today…”

This grounding finds powerful expression throughout State of The Nations as Moinet addresses, misogyny, corruption, colonialism, racism, menopause, grief, genocide, the cost of living and more. While the depth of these issues packs a punch with their gravitas, the poems never stray into the territory of heavy-handed rants. Katrina’s choice of language is clear and concise. Creativity and playfulness abound through form and visual arrangement on the page.

Thoroughly readable while containing depth that rewards every return, State Of The Nations is an arresting collection, offering a vital critique of our times. Accessible and uncompromising, Moinet’s poetry delivers bold reckonings, interspersed with compassion and humour.

Earlier in 2025, Poetry Wales stated that Katrina Moinet was on their radar as ‘One to Watch’. This latest pamphlet seals Katrina as an essential Welsh voice within the world of contemporary poetry.

State of The Nations is published by Atomic Bohemian and is available to purchase online via Atomic Bohemian.

For more information about Katrina Moinet, visit their website here.