A sample extract from bed:
I am walking into snow
a landscape of white static
white and muted
indeterminate
each forward step
undoes
a part
of the child
I never completed
making me scream
that I need to turn back
and retrieve her
(grieve her)
A sample extract from bed:
I am walking into snow
a landscape of white static
white and muted
indeterminate
each forward step
undoes
a part
of the child
I never completed
making me scream
that I need to turn back
and retrieve her
(grieve her)
V. Press is very very delighted to announce the publication of The Human Portion by Nicola Warwick.
“Nicola Warwick’s poems take place in entrancing, liminal territory in which the human sensibility encounters the natural world. Deep kinship, mystery and otherness are conveyed through acute observation and transformative imagination. The language is precise and often surprises. Take, for instance ‘the sky, red as a swallow's throat’ (‘Late high summer’), or ‘roots easing through earth / were a voice making itself unheard’ (‘And the trees (said)’). These poems reveal a special sensitivity and to read them is to feel our ‘Human Portion’ enlarged. Highly recommended.” Moniza Alvi
“‘How to speak of this’ Warwick asks in these nuanced, thoughtful poems concerning landscape, seascape and wildlife. Encompassing intimate losses of family and nature, the collection delicately explores our ‘egg-tight grief’ in distilled moments of striking imagery and accomplishment. Ultimately, these poems hope that we may find in nature, as ‘The Courteous Farmer’ does, a ‘second heart’.” Heidi Williamson
The Human Portion is very liminal and very grounded.
ISBN: 978-1-7398838-2-9
36 pages
R.R.P. £6.50
BUY THE HUMAN PORTION NOW using the paypal options below.
It's been a busy and exciting start to 2023 at V. Press, with review news and lots of forthcoming titles now ready for pre-order and scheduled in for later in the year.
We hope all our readers, writers and supporters have had a gentle but bright start to the year, with lots to look forward to over the next 12 months.
Here, there's so much to share that it's working out where to start...
NEW REVIEWS
“‘How to speak of this’ Warwick asks in these nuanced, thoughtful poems concerning landscape, seascape and wildlife. Encompassing intimate losses of family and nature, the collection delicately explores our ‘egg-tight grief’ in distilled moments of striking imagery and accomplishment. Ultimately, these poems hope that we may find in nature, as ‘The Courteous Farmer’ does, a ‘second heart’.” Heidi Williamson
The Human Portion is very liminal and very grounded.
“A book about eating disorders and abuse might sound like a tough read – but, although these poems teeter on the edge of an abyss, they are written with healthy doses of warmth and humour, and an appetite for life that proves moving and uplifting.” Dr David Swann
“Braised in Wine’s evocative, compelling and moving poems whet the appetite, while also exploring how what we eat and drink may feed into other aspects of life – body image, self-worth, relationships and more.” Sarah Leavesley, V. Press prize judge
Braised in Wine is very amusing and very genuine.
A sample poem, endorsements, more information and pre-ordering for Braised in Wine can be found here.
V. Press would like to wish all our readers, writers and supporters a joyous festive period and very very Happy New Year!
This year, to celebrate the season, V. Press has a special offer that runs the whole of December 2022 for orders for delivery in the UK. With every title purchased over this period for delivery in the UK, we will send a free pamphlet/chapbook/book.*
Happy reading, relaxing, rejoicing!
* This offer runs from 1 December 2022 to midnight on 31 December 2022, UK-time and UK-delivery only.
“The poems in Powerless Rangers enchant through their spoken power. They are clear-eyed about what makes us who we are and show true strength through their openness, compassion, and self-knowledge. The humour, language, and energy will win over readers and audiences alike.”
David Morley
“McGowan’s poems are loud, with their energetic wit and playful meanderings, but they disguise a romantic, nostalgic centre and when it surfaces the audience or reader are encouraged to switch from one emotion to another in a second – which is a delight.”
Ruth Stacey
Powerless Rangers is very nostalgic, and very nineties.
ISBN: 978-1-7398838-3-6
34 pages
R.R.P. £6.50
A sample poem can be enjoyed below.
BUY Powerless Rangers NOW using the paypal options below.
We watched the box set of Friends until we weren’t
V. Press would like to wish all our readers, writers and supporters a joyous festive period and very very Happy New Year!
This year, to celebrate the season, V. Press has a special offer that runs the whole of December 2022 for orders for delivery in the UK. With every title purchased over this period for delivery in the UK, we will send a free pamphlet/chapbook/book.*
Happy reading, relaxing, rejoicing!
* This offer runs from 1 December 2022 to midnight on 31 December 2022, UK-time and UK-delivery only.
REVIEWS
Reviewing Hannah Linden's "impressive debut chapbook", The Beautiful Open Sky, for Litter Magazine, Steve Spence writes: "Her mix of graphic imagery – ‘the sunk pits’ for example – within an exploration of thought and feeling has a genuine link to what I’m going to call confessional poetry, something which is increasingly difficult to pull-off post Lowell and Plath, especially given the internet overload of such material, but it works here very effectively. It’s that combination I think of thought and feeling which does the trick and the careful use of language[...]"The full review can be found on Litter Magazine here. A sample poem, audio recording and ordering for The Beautiful Open Sky are available here.
You'll need an umbrella for thisNEW TITLES
“The stories that fill Mary-Jane Holmes’ Set a Crow to Catch a Crow are perfect, precise, highly burnished narrative shards that describe a moment in time but imply both what came before this moment and very likely may come after. It might only be a grain you are offered but you get a whole world. It is only writing of a very high order can pull off the feat that is pulled off here.” Carlo Gébler
Set a Crow to Catch a Crow is very textured and very liminal.
A sample flash fiction from Set a Crow to Catch a Crow can be enjoyed here.
NOW AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK IN THE U.K. AND INTERNATIONALLY ON KINDLE through Amazon, including Amazon.co.uk here and Amazon.com here.
“The poems in Powerless Rangers enchant through their spoken power. They are clear-eyed about what makes us who we are and show true strength through their openness, compassion, and self-knowledge. The humour, language, and energy will win over readers and audiences alike.”
David Morley
“McGowan’s poems are loud, with their energetic wit and playful meanderings, but they disguise a romantic, nostalgic centre and when it surfaces the audience or reader are encouraged to switch from one emotion to another in a second – which is a delight.”
Ruth Stacey
Powerless Rangers is very nostalgic, and very nineties.
ISBN: 978-1-7398838-3-6
34 pages
R.R.P. £6.50
A sample poem and pre-ordering for Powerless Rangers can be found here.
WELCOME TO THE READING ROOM