Seasonal Greetings & Offers

Refraction
from late Latin refractio(n- ), from refringere ‘break up’

and when we awoke the world was made of glass
so sharp it cut our tongues
and so bright it burned our eyes
until all we could say was weather
and all we could see were the dark shapes
where the light used to be

and this is where we chose to build
our crystal kingdoms of kindness
and open invitations: soup kitchens, school plays,
our frozen-toed choirs, our warming flames
and dining tables stretching from vitric horizons
all bending through densities to reach us

and the hard pane of night went on for months;
we rang bells against it to make it sing
and we could not move for the press of dark
so we made games from huddling and melting
and when it was cold enough to mold-blow our breath
we filled our lungs, held it in

and the pale sun began to rise
and then

Kibriya Mehrban

V. Press is very very delighted to mark the festive season with this beautiful poem from our Cultural Intern Kibriya Merhrban.

This year is the fifth anniversary (yes, in Roman numerals, the vth birthday!) of V. Press's first publication and launch at Ledbury Poetry Festival in 2013!

To celebrate the 'holiday season', end of 2018 and start of 2019, we've two very very special offers - running for a month (until January 14, 2019.

These are:

Vth Birthday:Three poetry/fiction pamphlets for £12 offer (including P&P for UK delivery only) - Choose from art brut, Hometown, Scare Stories, The Chemist's House, Somewhere Between Rose and Black, How to Parallel Park, Against the Pull of Time, A Z-hearted Guide to Heartache. Please specify which three you'd like when placing your order, otherwise we will make our own selection for you. *

Vth Birthday:Two books for £15 offer (including P&P for UK delivery only) - Choose from Bolt Down This Earth, The Nagasaki Elder,  Blink, Unable Mother, Three Men on the Edge, Like love. Please specify which three you'd like when placing your order, otherwise we will make our own selection for you.*

WISHING ALL OUR READERS AND AUTHORS A VERY VERY FESTIVE SEASONAL PERIOD AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

* Normally, there should be an 'instructions to merchant' section on Paypal where you can list your choices. If you don't get this, please email them over at the time of order to vpresspoetry@hotmail.com.

Poetry as experience - Kibriya's 'Top Notes' & more...

At V. Press, we've always believed that good poetry and fiction are more than just printed words on a page - they're an experience.

When readers buy a V. Press title, they get something more - be it a sharing of beauty, a shoulder to cry on, words that remind them they're not alone, an escape from mundane reality, inspiration, camaraderie, a chance to unwind...the possibilities are endless, and the experience unique to every reader with every title.

The sense that poetry and fiction are a pleasure that fits in alongside life and creates a wider experience as it does so, was one of the inspirations behind our Chez Nous section, suggesting wines, teas and other drinks that might be enjoyed while reading particular titles.

We're delighted that our Cultural Intern Kibriya Mehrban has come up with a new twist to this - Kibriya's 'Top Notes'.

Over the next few months, Kibriya will be creating Chez Nous 'playlists' of the music she'd recommend as capturing the sounds of forthcoming V. Press publications.

Kibriya's 'Top Notes' recommendations start with Brenda Read-Brown's Like Love:

"Frank Turner – Reasons Not to be an Idiot

The Beach Boys – God Only Knows

Adele – When We Were Young

Iron and Wine – Upward Over the Mountain

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Learning to Fly



At first glance, this playlist is a strange mix of sounds. Like Brenda Read-Brown’s collection Like Love, it changes as you go through it and – also like the collection – it can surprise you..."

Kibriya's full 'Top Notes' Chez Nous recommendation for Like Love can be found here.

BUY Like love now using the paypal button.

Like love (including P&P)

Like love (including P&P for the U.K. only) £13.00 GBP Like love (including P&P for Rest of the World) £18.50 GBP

Kibriya has also created a second new initiative for V. Press - combining poem quotes with beautiful photographs...

More info about  Jinny Fisher's The Escapologist can be found here and the pamphlet pre-ordered using paypal below.

The Escapologist (including P&P)

The Escapologist (including P&P for the U.K. only) £7.50 GBP The Escapologist (including P&P for Rest of the World) £12.99 GBP

And if you're in Worcester this evening...

Launching These nights at home

V. Press is very very delighted to launch These nights at home - a pamphlet of poems by Alex Reed with images from photographer Keren Banning.

These nights at home, which follows on from Alex Reed’s earlier V. Press pamphlet A Career in Accompaniment, is very personal, and yet very familiar. This longer pamphlet voices the loneliness and isolation that follow bereavement, and the predicament of trying to begin anew. Moments of tenderness, flashback, longing and love flicker through the mind and heart as the months pass. The poems are accompanied by Keren Banning’s striking series of photographic images that are simultaneously abstract and intimate, drawing the reader further into this fragmented landscape.


“The most striking feature of Alex Reed’s poems in These nights at home is their clarity – a transparency that allows the reader in to the emotions and experience they explore. This lucid quality allows complex and deep feelings to be expressed vividly. Being able to approach the most difficult human experience so directly and honestly makes the poems moving and compelling. Specific concrete details convey loss and grief, loneliness, the pull of memory. Recurring motifs – empty rooms, hallways, doors – suggest the slow and repetitive process of grieving. There is nothing spare in the poems. Every word earns its place. The voice is quiet, restrained, attentive. The poems are not sombre. There are flashes of humour and a range of tone is created through the different poetic forms – prose poems building unsettling extended metaphors, experimental layouts suggesting a shifting sense of memory and perception. The pamphlet shows the reader what it means to be living with loss, conveying the process of grief with its ‘pacing hours’, and just a hint of a tentative way forward. It reminds us how, in the right hands, the economy of poetry can communicate the most complex of emotions.” Cynthia Fuller

“Less fraught than A Career in Accompaniment, more a slow immersive haunting, the poems in These nights at home enter a different unknown – the oceanic space of loss and absence.  Tentative minimalism provides the key to open up distances, far and near.  Here, less is more – reflective territory exquisitely distilled in Keren Banning’s spectral photographs.” Linda France

A sample poem and a sample image from this longer pamphlet can be found below.

44 pages
ISBN: 978-1-9998444-6-2
R.R.P. £7.50

BUY These nights at home now using the paypal link below.

These nights at home (including P&P)

These nights a home (including P&P for the U.K. only) £8.50 GBP These nights at home (including P&P for Rest of the World) £13.99 GBP

LIMITED BUNDLE OFFER for U.K. delivery only, buy a copy of These nights at home together with a copy of Alex Reed's A Career in Accompaniment for just £14, including U.K. postage and packing.

SAMPLE POEM & PHOTO from THESE NIGHTS AT HOME

deep river

friends say it’s early yet

your picture on the fireplace, smiling

it takes a year

your reading specs on the table

it takes two years

folded clothes still on the shelves

it takes four years

faint trace of you from the wool

there is a river that runs within –

vast, uncharted, rising

BBC FLASH TREATS, IN THE SPOTLIGHT & REVIEW NEWS

BBC RADIO FLASH TREATS & FLASH INTERVIEW

Jude Higgins read ‘It Tastes Good’, a story with World War One references, from her V. Press pamphlet, The Chemist’s House, on Upload with Adam Crowther on November 12. For a limited period only, her flash and talk about flash fiction generally can be found at 1.38.03 mins into the show here.


Santino Prinzi's reading from his V. Press pamphlet There's Something Macrocosmic About All of This was on Upload with Adam Crowther on November 14. This can currently be enjoyed here (around 1 hr 40 mins in).

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

V. Press flash fiction author Carrie Etter  talks to Speaking of Marvels about writing, cats and her pamphlet Hometown. The interview can be found here.

And V. Press poet Romalyn Ante is featured in God is in the TV is online culture fanzine, with three poems including 'Last Offices' from her V. Press pamphlet Rice & Rain, which won the 2018 Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet The feature can be read here and more about Rice & Rain here.

REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

'Reviewing Helen Calcutt’s glorious collection, Unable Mother, feels a little like reading the diary of a close friend, a letter to myself, or the delicate and kaleidoscopic thoughts of the many women I’ve walked, talked and cried with since we were bonded by one single, cataclysmic event – birth…

'The imagery is rich and complex throughout, filled with its own totems: birds crash-land, lotus flowers bloom in the shadows, grief burns bright and painful as the sun. Boats rock, unsteady. Horses are either stabled or walk on “like women through fire”…'

Victoria Richards, A Restricted View From Under The Hedge

For a sample poem, more about Unable Mother, or to buy a copy of the collection, please click here. 

Announcing the V. Press Prize for Poetry... & more!

THE V. PRESS PRIZE FOR POETRY

V. Press is very very proud to announce the inaugural V. Press Prize for Poetry offered in conjunction with the University of Worcester.

The award is for a graduating student at the University of Worcester whose work demonstrates an outstanding achievement in the writing of poetry. Eligible portfolios are shortlisted by the university, with V. Press editor and director S.A. Leavesley choosing the winner.

The inaugural 2018 prize has been awarded to Margaret Adkins for her portfolio ‘Mingled Space’. She will now be working with V. Press guest editor Ruth Stacey on her V. Press Prize for Poetry pamphlet, to be published by V. Press in 2019.

Announcing the 2018 V. Press Prize for Poetry winner, Sarah Leavesley said: “In ‘Mingled Space’, Margaret Adkins weaves together striking imagery, evocative speech and a variety of form and techniques to create a wide-ranging and beguiling look at family, society and life. This is a vivid selection of poems that I can see, taste, feel – a worthy winner of the inaugural V. Press Prize for Poetry.”

Information about studying Creative Writing at Worcester University can be found here.

REVIEWS & OTHER NEWS

"As a debut poetry pamphlet Charley Barnes’s A Z-hearted Guide to Heartache does what so many other collections and pamphlets fail to do: Barnes does an amazing job of creating flow from one poem to the next. In doing so, she takes us on a journey as the voice behind the poems first breaks down and then makes sense of various sources of heartache..."

Steph Mantle, Neon Books, full review here

BUY a copy of A Z-Hearted Guide to Heartache now using the paypal button below.

A Z-hearted Guide to Heartache (including P&P)

A Z-hearted Guide to Heartache (including P&P for the U.K. only) £7.50 GBP A Z-hearted Guide to... (including P&P for Rest of the World) £12.99 GBP

"Brenda Read-Brown’s poems are empathetic and welcoming...

"It reminds us all of the power that words have to connect and communicate. Their conversational tone makes these poems easy to read aloud and their layers of empathy reward re-reading."

Emma Lee, full review with analysis of some of the poems here 

BUY a copy of Like love now using the paypal button below.

Like love (including P&P)

Like love (including P&P for the U.K. only) £13.00 GBP Like love (including P&P for Rest of the World) £18.50 GBP

Meanwhile, a new interview with American poet and V. Press flash fiction author Carrie Etter can be found here. A sample flash and more on her V. Press flash fiction pamphlet Hometown here.

V. Press flash fiction author Michael Loveday has a workshop on writing about urban-rural environments at the National Association of Writers in Education conference in York. His 'Edgelands' workshop is on Sunday, November 11. More information about this here, and more about his flash fiction novella set in the 'edgelands' Three Men on the Edge here.

Launching Like love

V. Press is very very delighted to announce the launch of Brenda Read-Brown's poetry collection Like love.

“The poems in Like love are uncluttered. They are simple, profound, and immensely touching. There is great empathy at work here, an empathy without which no real poems can exist. Read-Brown deserves a far wider readership than hitherto, and one hopes with this collection she will find it.” Brian Patten

“These approachable poems are full of humour and life experience. Like love faces up to ageing, loss and injustice with an eye for contradiction and detail. Poems about clearing out a child’s bedroom after they have left home, about angels, first love and sunbathing topless exude unquenchable enthusiasm for living! A collection to relish from a seasoned and generous poet.” Chloe Garner, Artistic Director, Ledbury Poetry Festival

“The most prolific slam winner the UK has ever had; a joy of a performer with a huge range of material that varies in style and content.” Steve Larkin

“These poems remind me of the tingles. I’m so happy to feel them. This collection makes me want to run outside, kiss, fall in leaves and then write.” Hollie McNish

Like love is very open and very unpredictable.

ISBN: 978-1-9998444-3-1

76 pages

R.R.P. £10.99

A sample poem from Like love can be enjoyed below.

BUY Like love now using the paypal button.

Like love (including P&P)

Like love (including P&P for the U.K. only) £13.00 GBP Like love (including P&P for Rest of the World) £18.50 GBP

Poetry has no learning objective

Words are winds

that ruffle thoughts

and blow down structures

we thought solid.

The man with a cobra

tattooed across his forehead

might be a gentle vegan.

Some people spend their spare time

painting angels.

The kid “you’ll need to watch for”

will give me images

fresh as mermaids.

Rhyme can hurt,

and metaphor disturb.

Hugs and cake

are both important.

Words are winds on water,

and water is what we’re made of.

READINGS

3 Nov 2018: Stourbridge library, at 11 am

15 Nov 2018: Raise the Bar, Arnolfini, Bristol, supporting Zena Edwards

22 Nov 2018: Dear Listener, Worcester

25 Nov 2018: Shrewsbury Festival, Stop Café, Shrewsbury

25 Nov 2018: Ooh Shehive (special edition of Ooh Beehive), Swindon

Jan 2019: Wolverhampton Literature Festival

12 Feb 2019: City Voices, Wolverhampton

Changing...NPD, submissions, new titles & more

This Thursday is National Poetry Day with a whole range of readings, poetry sharing and inspirational events taking place across the U.K.

This year's NPD theme is change. Life, poetry and publishing are full of change, particularly in the contemporary high-tech era. At V. Press, we're pleased to celebrate both poetry and change every day, and especially this week, in this blogpost.

V. Press is very very proud of all its authors and their poetry and fiction, making the wheel new, in their own way. On this score, we have some review news and a few more announcements about titles already lined up for next year...

REVIEWS

V. Press is very very happy to share two new reviews, of Michael Loveday's flash fiction novella Three Men on the Edge and Helen Calcutt's debut poetry collection Unable Mother.

"...Three Men on the Edge by Michael Loveday? Not boring...

"The beauty of this book, overall, is its not-neatness, its focus on the out-of-focus, its one minute a story, its next minute a footnote, its edginess, its familiarity, its murkiness, it’s really good."

Jonathan Cardew, Bending Genres, full review here

Sample flashes and more on the novella can be found here. Three Men on the Edge can also be ordered using the Paypal link below. 

Three Men on the Edge (including P&P)

Three Men on the Edge (including P&P for the U.K. only) £12.50 GBP Three Men on the Edge (including P&P for Rest of the World) £17.50 GBP

A new review  and analysis of poems in Helen Calcutt's debut collection Unable Mother by Emma Lee includes:

“The language is precise and allows the poems to build layers of insight...

“The poems are intimate in their offerings of insights and draw from considered experience using precise, spare language to explore vulnerability and to seek clarity. It’s good to see the less-explored side of motherhood expressed with compassion and intelligence.”

Emma Lee, full review here

Sample poems and more on the collection can be found here. Unable Mother can also be ordered using the Paypal link below. 

Unable Mother (including P&P)

Unable Mother (including P&P for the U.K. only) £12.50 GBP Unable Mother (including P&P for Rest of the World) £17.50 GBP

SUBMISSIONS & NEW TITLES

Following on from guest editor selections and other imminent pamphlets and collection news in our blogpost at the end of August, we can now reveal details of a few more new titles.

Lined up for the start of 2019, V. Press has poetry pamphlets Making Waves Albert Einstein: Science & Life by Martin Zarrop and Heroines on the Blue Peninsula by Becky Varley-Winter.

Later in the year we also have debut collections from Nichola Deane and Charles Lauder, as well as a new collection from V. Press designer and talented poet Ruth Stacey!

But these are just some of the poetry titles lined up for next year. V. Press has more to come - including next year's flash fiction titles...There will be more news and announcements on all these over the coming months, as well as new author biographies being added to Our writers/Illustrators page.

On the submissions front, all those authors who had poetry and flash fiction manuscripts shortlisted from the submissions window earlier this year, should now have received an email about their submission.

Final decisions were harder and closer than ever this year - so many more manuscripts V. Press would have taken on with more resources. We wish all shortlisted authors the very best.

Following on more generally from the submissions process, V. Press editor Sarah Leavesley has put together a short (eight A4 pages) guidance sheet on 'Structuring a Pamphlet'. The advice and points to consider are based on Sarah's own experience as a writer putting together her pamphlets and collections, as well as her work as an editor reading and working on other writers' manuscripts. This guidance sheet is mainly intended for those putting together a poetry pamphlet. But some of the points on it may also be useful for flash pamphlets and full collections.

This guide is free, though a voluntary Tip-jar donation of £2 is invited.

For a pdf copy of 'Structuring a Pamphlet', please either email Sarah at vpresspoetry@hotmail.com or click on the paypal Tip-jar donation button below.

FROM NEW TITLES TO NEW FACES

V. Press is also very very delighted to share the news that Kibriya Merhrban will be joining us as a University of Birmingham Post-Graduate Cultural Intern in partnership with Writing West Midlands.  (Our thanks to Writing West Midlands for organising this.) Kibriya will be working with V. Press for a half-day a week from the end of October 2018-February 2019, so look out for more from Kibriya over the coming weeks...

Kibriya Mehrban is a recent graduate of English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham and is working with V. Press as part of her internship with Writing West Midlands. She loves poetry in all its forms and looks forward to working with V. Press and contributing to their continued success. Kibriya’s poetry featured in the anthology This is Not Your Final Form (Emma Press, 2017) and she has also written for the Apples and Snakes website. Twitter: @KibriyaTM 

Happy National Poetry Day (Week) 2018!