Memory of Fire is a collection of poems composed by Clare Maynard while traveling between Wales and Germany and in other parts of Europe over a period of  ten years. The majority of the poems were written in cafés in Berlin during the winter months, drawing on past memories.

The collection captures the different atmospheres of rural and urban landscapes, evoking both myth and the historical changes experienced by those who live inside and outside of the towns and cities, also how countryside and city can represent transient and static cultures, some of them remaining unchanged throughout  the years.

Berlin poems evoke the ravages of a volatile history which can still be seen in the buildings and urban landscape. Where they touch on the political, the poems address the often harsh conditions of rural life hidden within the idyllic viewpoint , or contrast it to the modernism of the city.

The more personal poems, relating to friendships or family, evoke the sense of loss when paths divide. The roots of many of the poems can be found in meeting people like herself while on her journeys, people of both of past and present diasporas.

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