Batman's Hill, South Staffs is non-linear sequence of poems set largely in Staffordshire, between 1961 and 1972. Quietly contemplative and playful with language, the poems derive their energy from the dialogue between memory and hindsight.
BEFORE THEM, WE explores the lives of migrant elders from Africa, unpacking the intimate details of their lives - their loves, obsessions and motivations - before the families they went on to establish. A collaborative act of sharing by poets of African descent, BEFORE THEM, WE is a revealing meditation on how we engage with the practice of ......
The poems in Katie Hale's Breaking the Surface are populated with totems of our wild, essential truths- from the raven bearing witness to death, to the wolf's dark appetite. Hale interrogates desire in its different forms and unpicks the seams of myths, folktales and fairy stories, offering them up with new life. A self-assured debut.
Breathe explores Fidel Castro-era Cuba; in nine stunning stories, Segal captures a fast-fading era with emotional brushstrokes. A beautiful example is the penultimate story, Leaving Cuba, with its haunting closing image of Havana's night sky; an eloquently rendered a tale of the lives of everyday Cubans: whichever path one takes, something is ......
In 'Catching the Cascade', his long awaited debut collection, Paul Lyalls presents verse that documents his long career as a performing poet, exploring the motifs of childhood, love, consumerism, second hand cars and his native North. His punchy, breathlessly entertaining poetry stems not just from a razor sharp wit but from his genuine love of ......
'Deluge', as with Charlotte Ansell's previous books - 'you were for the poem' and 'After Rain' - displays an unerring emotional honesty. Confronting therapy, family, as well as social shifts like gentrification, Charlotte draws perspective from the community she lives in and distils it into the poems that make up this stunning collection.
Don't Speak Easy is Tom Jameson's debut pamphlet. Its scope ranges from a childhood spent in the immediate wake of the Second World War to a projected future where death provides the opportunity to spin back to the very beginning of life at breakneck speed. Jameson's skill as a poet and storyteller never loses sight of the fine grain of human ......
Feeling a way through the electric, breathless experiences of young adulthood, 'Every Single One' is the debut pamphlet from Nina Bahadur. From New Year's Eve to the stretches of summer, dealing with prickly relationships and an exhaustive search for identity, these poems are an honest and unabashed exploration of youth, intimacy, and growth.
