Archivum

By Theresa Muñoz

Featuring the poem 'Animals' (The Forward Book of Poetry 2026)

Longlisted for the 2025 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year

Archivum is a book - wise, funny and inventive by turn - that explores what it means to look at artefacts in an archive, and how these objects resonate with events in our lives. Imagined as a walk across Edinburgh, landmarks such as the Balmoral clock, National Library of Scotland, Meadows, Canongate Kirkyard and Water of Leith provide a meditative backdrop to the poems.

The archives - in particular the archive of the writer Muriel Spark - are used to create a space to come to terms with the complexities of a life and how we in turn tell stories about ourselves: the depths of our familial relationships, relationship breakdowns and the death of a parent. What's found in the archive's boxes -- including recipes, telegrams, letters -- stirs and amplifies feelings of belonging, disorientation, triumph and grief.

With a focus on women writers and interracial relationships, the book explores objects belonging to significant figures in the poet's imaginary: along with Spark, the actor Maggie Smith, poet Elizabeth Bishop, the 19th century slave owner's daughter Eliza Junor and psychotherapist Marie Battle Singer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1836243014
• ISBN13: 9781836243014
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Length: 66 Pages
• Weight: 0.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 4.6" x 7.5"