Writer and teacher Danielle Mynes spoke to TOM OGG about the importance of amplifying female voice through her poems and about her book of poetry – Some Woman for One Woman – which will be released in 2026
ANYONE who has ever tried writing poetry will know that it is far from the easiest literary art form to master.
Yet there are some whose talent for the poetic word almost makes it seem easy – and Danielle Mynes is one such writer.
A teacher by profession, Ireland-born Danielle has lived and worked in Jersey for just shy of a decade and, throughout that time, she has penned poems covering more styles, genres and topics than the Island has sandy beaches.
“I like to explore universal themes of love and relationships, and the bonds of sisterhood and friendship, and often with a strongly feminist angle,” says Danielle, chatting during a visit to the JEP offices earlier this week.
“I also take a lot of inspiration from the natural world and natural landscapes. And I am influenced by my own heritage – my Irish culture. I’d say some of my poems also have a slightly surreal quality to them. And I really love writing character-based pieces. I like to give a voice to the characters – especially women who have been ignored, erased or forgotten – and use poetry to explore the violence that many women face on a daily basis.”
The latter is a subject about which Danielle is particularly passionate, and she sees her poetry as a means of raising awareness of the matter.
“I think if we can educate through the arts then that is something that can be really powerful,” she says. “You’re showing people a different perspective, a different way of looking at the world, a different way of exploring difficult subjects, but in a more creative way.”
An English teacher and head of PSH at Jersey College for Girls, Danielle first began working at JCG in 2017, having spent the preceding five years teaching in Guernsey.
“I teach language and literature at JCG and, as you can imagine, it’s very inspiring,” she says. “I teach the students how to write creatively, how to analyse novels and literature, and, of course, I teach them how to analyse poetry, explore its themes and write descriptively for prose.
“For me, it really is a dream job because I get to teach these beautiful poems and important novels and feminist texts every day.”
The students, she says, always respond positively to the literature: “Oh, absolutely, they love bringing it all to life. They really connect to the female characters in a powerful way.”
Born and raised in a small village outside the town of County Carlow in the southeast of Ireland, Danielle says that she first discovered her interest in writing during childhood: “I would often write little stories and poems for my family and friends.”
It was at this time that her love for the ocean also developed, despite the village in which she lived being surrounded by fields rather than water.
“I’ve always found the sea incredibly inspiring,” she says. “The bays that surround Jersey are just beautiful, absolutely stunning, especially Bouley Bay. I often go for sea swims there.
“I feel very connected to the water – there is something very spiritual about it. I’ve always felt drawn to the sea, which is maybe why I’ve ended up in the Channel Islands. There is something about it that never fails to inspire me to write.”
It wasn’t until last year, however, that Danielle first gave serious thought to collating her work into a single volume, which she has now done with Some Woman for One Woman, a collection of her most inspiring poems.
“Well, I came second in the short story competition at the 2024 Jersey Festival of Words and it gave me a real confidence boost,” she recalls. “That was the impetus for me. It gave me the encouragement to say: ‘Okay, maybe I’ve got something quite special here’.”
The short story in question was a hard-hitting piece told from the point of view of a domestic violence survivor. It detailed the impact of violence on the protagonist and her family and children, and told of the character’s determination to break the cycle of abuse.
Does Danielle believe, as many women do, that women’s rights have taken a backwards step in recent years after several decades of progress?
“Well, I mean, gosh, what are the figures? I think one in every three women have experienced some sort of sexual or physical violence in their lifetime, which is a frightening statistic. In the UK, I think there are around 3,000 incidents of violence against women and girls every day. If we lived in an equal world, there wouldn’t be that level of of violence, would there? I think in a lot of ways we have progressed but, sadly, there are still major concerns. Millions of women in Europe still don’t have rights over their own bodies.”
The aforementioned Some Woman for One Woman – its title a popular Irish expression expressing praise for strong females – is currently undergoing “tweaks”, with Danielle aiming to launch the collection next year with an exhibition created in partnership with Jersey artist Jacque Rutter.
“We are hoping to put together a collaborative exhibition of poetry and art amplifying female voices and lived experiences in order to educate, to empower, and to learn from different perspectives so that we can all understand and appreciate each other more,” says Danielle.
“The ultimate goal, after all, is to eradicate all forms of gender-based violence in our society, and I think art and literature can contribute towards achieving that.”
Citing Maya Angelou, Caryl Churchill and Margaret Atwood as among her favourite writers, Danielle says that it often feels as if “the words are pouring out onto the page” when she writes.
“I suppose I get images and feelings and then I sort of begin the process, just kind of jotting things down, and then I’ll restructure it and think about what I’ve written. Once I have an image or an idea in mind, it all tends to come quite quickly, and I then have to decide if the poem is going to be more political or more relationship-based or perhaps about motherhood.”
On the subject of which, Danielle – who is married with two children (“I’m married to a Jerseyman with Irish heritage, so the best of both worlds”) – says that the ups and downs of motherhood are another common theme in her work.
“Being the mum of a boy furthers my will and passion for equality and of wanting to raise boys to become kind, respectful, feminist men and allies”, she says.
“I explore the beauty of motherhood in my poems, but also the intense challenges and the hardships that motherhood entails. You have to juggle so much and you never feel quite like you’re doing it right. There is always this feeling of guilt, this parental guilt, and it comes from trying to balance work and mothering and all the other demands that life brings.”
Which isn’t to say that Danielle doesn’t also recognise the importance of fathers and strong male role models, as exemplified by her poem Love Letter [To all the good men].
“Love Letter [To all the good men] is, I guess, about seeing us all for who we are, about the value added by each of us, and how good men can lift us up and empower us.
“There is a lovely little Irish phrase in the poem: Ní neart go cur le chéile. Which means: There is no strength without unity. And that, I think, is something about which all of us can agree.”
*Some Woman for One Woman by Danielle Mynes will be released next year. You can hear Danielle’s evening poetry reads at instagram.com/daniellemynes
‘I think art and literature can contribute towards ending gender-based violence’
