Action Books, paperback
Publication Date: April 15, 2025
Publisher Marketing: M.L. Martin's groundbreaking book , W & E begins with the mysterious Anglo-Saxon poem commonly known as "Wulf and Eadwacer." The poem, found only in the Exeter Codex, appears to tell the story of love and imprisonment: the speaker is kept from her lover, Wulf, by Eadwacer, who could be her husband or captor. But the narrative is elliptical and strange, the grammar ambiguous, the formal features unorthodox. The poem may not even be a story – some scholars have suggested that it might be a riddle, a beast fable or charm. Rather than establishing a singular truth behind this enigmatic poem, Martin's translations and iterations dwell in the potentialities of the text. Entranced by its mysteries, Martin returns again and again to hear new stories, new poems, and through these discoveries contemplates the dynamics of violence and romance, and "our queer love song."
