Bog Witch, by Welsh poet, radio presenter and Buzz poetry columnist Mab Jones, is a slim tome – just under 100 pages – with an eye-catching cover that suggests a witchy, spiritual and mystical read. It’s all of these things – but also so much more.

Across 10 chapters, named after the chants of the three witches from Macbeth, the author takes us on a journey through less-thought-of parts of Wales, ones which, often enough, we pass by without acknowledgement or even curiosity: the wetlands, fens and marshes. According to Jones, there are many such places – if we only know to look for them and give them a chance to charm us with their muggy, rich in opulent flora and fauna selves. 

The thing that stands out in Bog Witch the most – besides its superb writing, full of poetic language and surprising turns of phrase – is its more personal exploration of discovering nature from the perspective of a working-class person. Nature writing that explores, in an honest, straight-speaking way, how growing up in a lower socioeconomic class can make a big difference to how you experience natural habitat is refreshing, even inspiring. 

This is an essential read: Jones does a wonderful job of setting a fire in readers’ stomach pits. “I’ve come to learn that in order to change things, we must develop our green vision”, she writes; Bog Witch could make for an astonishing companion on squelchy, oozy explorations into the wilderness of our neighbourhoods.