The Saboteur Awards & Other News

V. Press is very very delighted that The Beautiful Open Sky by Hannah Linden has been shortlisted for THE SABOTEUR AWARD FOR BEST POETRY PAMPHLET 2023!

The final round of voting, to decide the winners in each category of the award, is open until Wednesday, 21 June, 2023 at 11.50pm. You can vote for The Beautiful Open Sky and your favourites in the other categories here.

REVIEWS

V. Press is delighted to share two Sphinx One Point of Interest reviews, on The Human Portion by Nicola Warwick and bed by Georgia Gildea.

Considering the close observation in The Human Portion by Nicola Warwick:

“Nicola Warwick has sharp powers of observation which, allied to her skilled use of imagery, make for richly evocative poems. However, she also goes beyond description, sometimes even into the surreal, using nature as a way into deeper feelings.

[…] I sense an underlying yearning to reconcile the human with the natural world in this mesmerising, closely-observed pamphlet.”

Sue Wallace-Shaddad, OPOI, Sphinx, full review here. 

More information, endorsements, a sample poem and ordering for The Human Portion can be found here.

Considering the use of the present tense in bed by Georgia Gildea:

“Days no longer have names, nor do colours. They are undifferentiated. The more I look at what is in these poems the more I start to see what’s missing.

I don’t know where better is

or whether I want
to go there

Illness has no timescale, no certainties other than the immediate present and shrunken surroundings. This is set up from the opening lines […]”

D A Prince, OPOI, Sphinx, full review here. 

More information, endorsements, a sample extract and ordering for bed can be found here.

INTERVIEWS

Georgia Gildea talks with her V. Press guest editor, Charlotte Gann, about silence, self, resistance and more in her recently released chapbook, bed (which addresses the experience of hospitalisation for anorexia), on The Understory Conversation here.

More theme listings for V. Press titles and links to articles where authors talk about their V. Press books can be found in The Reading Room.

RECENTLY RELEASED

V. Press is very very delighted to share the publication of Braised in Wine by V. Press Prize for Poetry 2022 winner D.D. Holland.

“Braised in Wine is a striking debut from D.D. Holland. There is a veritable smorgasbord of ways (case in point) in which food can make its way into common parlance, but Holland breathes new life into her subject matter, exploring the familiar and at times painful emotions that eating can elicit. The poems contained within Braised in Wine unpick how food can fashion the self through memory and relationships, using taste as a way to express a deeper well of feeling. Through small and large acts of confession, Holland conjures powerful and poignant images that bury themselves in the mind. I can’t wait to see what’s next.” Dr Jack McGowan 

“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.

Winner of the V. Press Prize for Poetry 2022

ISBN: 978-1-7398838-5-0

34 pages, illustrated

R.R.P. £6.50

More information, ordering and a sample poem from Braised in Wine can be found here.

LATER THIS YEAR

V. Press is delighted to have pre-ordering available already for a number of poetry titles out later this year.

Turn Around When Possible

“Combining a scientific eye with a poetic sensibility (and a sharp sense of humour), Martin Zarrop’s work is thought-provoking and wry. These poems take the long view and they never shy away from difficulty, each expertly using form to amplify content. Turn Around When Possible is an enlightening, enjoyable read.”

Helen Mort

“Whether he is looking back fondly on the seemingly mundane details of a working-class childhood or exploring the vastness of interstellar space, Martin Zarrop’s poems are distinguished by their metaphysical wit, humour, and sheer accessibility. There is a mathematical precision to every poem in this collection, a focus on details, that leads inevitably and, with a minimum of fuss, to memorable insights into love, affection, the ineluctable passage of time, and humanity’s place in the universe. Turn Around When Possible is a delight from start to finish and shows Zarrop writing at the height of his very considerable powers.”
David Cooke

Turn Around When Possible is very uncertain and very quirky.

ISBN: 978-1-7398838-8-1
74 pages    
R.R.P. £10.99

More information, pre-ordering and a sample poem from Turn Around When Possible can be enjoyed here.

Not Enough Rage

“It’s rare for me to recognise, and feel kinship for, a lot of contemporary poetry. I recognise and feel kinship with this. Not Enough Rage is like a series of controlled explosions. Trembling houses. A burning voice. Experience dismantled and sewn back together with glowing needles and a mouth full of stars.”

Bobby Parker

“Like a Dylan Thomas of the age of mental illness, Gram Joel Davies leaps and flies through the world with dark exuberance. These are speakable poems, full of love for unlovable places and impossible people. In touch with but not tied to rap's rhymes and rhythms, this collection, for me, shifts the modern world into the painful focus of real poetry.” 
Peter Oswald

Not Enough Rage is very heady and very gutsy.

ISBN: 978-1-7398838-7-4
62 pages
R.R.P. £10.99

A sample poem pre-ordering and a sample poem from Not Enough Rage can be found here.

(m)othersongs

“(m)othersongs is a moving, visceral exploration of the othering nature of un-motherhood. Body-shame, medical misogyny and grief are exorcised in shape-shifting forms with veins of pain running through them, in which everything from cloud formations to sea gooseberries on a shoreline speak of the changing seasons of the human body. This is a world where ‘wooden babies’ and rag dolls are born in place of children, and the womb – a ‘special bedroom’ haunted by endometriosis, fibroids and myths of creation – is surrendered with the mantra – ‘it’s only a pocket, and one you’re not using’. Both heartbreaking and strangely transporting, these are powerful and necessary poems.”

Polly Atkin

 “(m)othersongs is one of those rare examples of a collection of poetry that is both moving in content and accomplished in form. Each poem is expertly crafted, with a skilled use of structured form alongside beautifully crafted free verse. This textured and vibrant collection does not hold back, it faces the pain of endometriosis and infertility and holds that pain up to the light as valid experience of womanhood. The poetry world is enriched by this collection, and I shall return to it.”
Wendy Pratt

(m)othersongs is very meteorological and very moonlit.

ISBN: 978-1-7398838-6-7
32 pages
RRP £6.50

More information, pre-ordering and a sample poem from (m)othersongs can be found here. 

Launching Braised in Wine

V. Press is very very delighted to share the publication of Braised in Wine by V. Press Prize for Poetry 2022 winner D.D. Holland.

“Braised in Wine is a striking debut from D.D. Holland. There is a veritable smorgasbord of ways (case in point) in which food can make its way into common parlance, but Holland breathes new life into her subject matter, exploring the familiar and at times painful emotions that eating can elicit. The poems contained within Braised in Wine unpick how food can fashion the self through memory and relationships, using taste as a way to express a deeper well of feeling. Through small and large acts of confession, Holland conjures powerful and poignant images that bury themselves in the mind. I can’t wait to see what’s next.” Dr Jack McGowan 

“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.

Winner of the V. Press Prize for Poetry 2022

ISBN: 978-1-7398838-5-0

34 pages, illustrated

R.R.P. £6.50

A sample poem can be enjoyed below.

BUY BRAISED IN WINE NOW using the paypal options below. 

Braised in Wine (with p&p options)

Braised in Wine (with p&p for UK delivery) £7.99 GBP Braised in Wine (with p&p for Rest of the World delivery) £18.00 GBP

Life Advice

Lick the custard jug.

Take eight canapes the first time around.

Double, triple and quadruple dip your crackers;

turn out the crisp packet and suck off the salt.

Dip your spoon directly into the jar,

eat the grapes from the cheese board

and chew on the garnish.

Slurp your soup,

take seven sugars in your tea

and drink your coke full-fat.

Gnaw on chicken bones, then

suck your fingers clean.

Always ensure you are first in line

for birthday cake.

Belch appreciatively,

use your sleeve as a napkin,

dig your elbows into the table,

seize the wrong cutlery

in the wrong hands and

refuse to leave without seconds.

Force meteor showers,

cure existence,

evade the certainty of death.

Lick the custard jug.

Launching bed

V. Press is very very excited to announce the publication of bed by Georgia Gildea, a poetry chapbook guest edited for V. Press by Charlotte Gann.

“bed takes us on a heart-wrenching journey through hospital admission and discharge, opening doors inward and outward as it explores the divides of self and space and asks: ‘where do I belong’? This astounding collection locates the ‘I’ in innovative form as much as in content: the ‘empty / stem’ of the ‘I’ is evoked in poems that run narrow – yet stand tall – on the page, stanzas re-assemble into ‘I’ shapes and, achingly, the ‘I’ is an ideogram for ‘a goodbye / hug’. Amid disappearances, erasures and elisions, bed is a collection that recovers the ‘I’ from an overwhelming ‘landscape of white static / white and muted’. These pages crackle with inventiveness; here is an electrifying new voice.” Sarah Barnsley

“I love bed most for its clarity and depth. Its language, imagery, use of form, and framing, are all wonderfully delicate. From its diminutive, lower-case title on, bed invites its readers straight inside to experience ‘a life pared down to a spoon’. These poems are like tiny islands – boats – beds – drifting and bumping on their sea – ward – of white space and grief. It’s stunningly generous, as these seemingly small pieces offer up huge insights, both compassionate and enlightening. They draw a self struggling to navigate a bruising landscape. This is work that is both refreshingly direct and beautifully crafted.” V. Press Guest Editor Charlotte Gann

bed is very raw and very real. 

ISBN: 978-1-7398838-4-3

36 pages

R.R.P. £6.50

Guest edited by Charlotte Gann

A sample extract from bed can be enjoyed below.

BUY BED NOW using the paypal options below.

bed (with p&p options)

bed (with p&p for UK delivery) £7.99 GBP bed (with p&p for Rest of the World delivery) £17.50 GBP

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) 

Launching The Human Portion

 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

A sample poem can be enjoyed below.

BUY THE HUMAN PORTION NOW using the paypal options below. 

The Human Portion (with p&p options)

The Human Portion (with p&p for UK delivery) £7.99 GBP The Human Portion (with p&p for Rest of the World delivery) £17.50 GBP

The Chitterings

Night by night, I listen
for the soft scrape of their claws
as they slip out from under the eaves.

You doze beside me, unaware 
of the little interlopers who stir only 
as we are readying ourselves for sleep.

I wait for the dusky light to fade, 
for their ragged shapes to take to the air, 
for them to stutter like ticker-tape into the dark.

My ears are tuned like a child’s for their speech,
their squeals and calls, a quiet chit-chittering
as they gather for the off.

You say it’s all in my head, these creatures
that will not silence, suggest I still them 
with something like mindfulness.

On those nights when sleep won’t come, 
I watch from the window for their exodus,
count them out, count them all back in.
 

 

Spring-ing into 2023!

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

The Beautiful Open Sky

"In The Beautiful Open Sky Hannah Linden shows us the nature of a childhood presided over by a mother who is unfit, and unable to nurture her children. I was astonished how quickly I became immersed in this world. [...]The poems work like a prism splitting the experience of this childhood into a spectrum of graphic images. They draw on fantastic myths and fairy tales as well as details of a working-class Lancastrian background. The language is always simple, penetrating, gets straight to the point, but there is a shift, subtle at first, a sense of the narrator getting a perspective on the situation and preparing to move on [...]"

Anne Bailey, OPOI, Sphinx, full review here.

"The Beautiful Open Sky is a poetry collection that takes leaps and bounds through an emotive and somber narrative that enrobes the reader in a sense of suffering far beyond what may ever be considered normal. What a powerful, sorrowful read of suffering crafted most exquisitely."

A.R. Arthur, Full House Literary, full review here.

 

More information, a sample poem and ordering for The Beautiful Open Sky can be found here.

Powerless Rangers

A One Point of Interest review picks up on the nineties nostalgia and catchphrases in Powerless Rangers by Jack McGowan. 

"And given that ‘catchphrases’ have always been around, there’s some mileage in the idea that this is because people like Jack McGowan have an ear for them, and are noticeably good at generating their own. [...]McGowan really does catch the ear with his phrases: ‘small as a thumbnail, big as a future’."

E. T. Michie, OPOI, Sphinx, full review here.

More information, a sample poem and ordering for Powerless Rangers can be found here.

Creature Without Building

A One Point of Interest review explores the gender assumptions, dual meanings, ambiguities and more highlighted by the use of strikethrough in Creature Without Building by Ray Vincent-Mills.

"I’ve read individual poems that make use of the strikethrough before, but never a collection that uses it so consistently to explore hesitation, power and permission around language."

Ramona Herdman, OPOI, Sphinx, full review here.

More information, a sample poem and ordering for Creature Without Building can be found here.

OUT SOON

V. Press is delighted to have two March-release poetry chapbooks now available to pre-order, as well as one out in April.

The Human Portion

“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.

A sample poem, endorsements, more information and pre-ordering for The Human Portion can be found here.

bed

“bed takes us on a heart-wrenching journey through hospital admission and discharge, opening doors inward and outward as it explores the divides of self and space and asks: ‘where do I belong’? This astounding collection locates the ‘I’ in innovative form as much as in content: the ‘empty / stem’ of the ‘I’ is evoked in poems that run narrow – yet stand tall – on the page, stanzas re-assemble into ‘I’ shapes and, achingly, the ‘I’ is an ideogram for ‘a goodbye / hug’. Amid disappearances, erasures and elisions, bed is a collection that recovers the ‘I’ from an overwhelming ‘landscape of white static / white and muted’. These pages crackle with inventiveness; here is an electrifying new voice.” Sarah Barnsley

“I love bed most for its clarity and depth. Its language, imagery, use of form, and framing, are all wonderfully delicate. From its diminutive, lower-case title on, bed invites its readers straight inside to experience ‘a life pared down to a spoon’. These poems are like tiny islands – boats – beds – drifting and bumping on their sea – ward – of white space and grief. It’s stunningly generous, as these seemingly small pieces offer up huge insights, both compassionate and enlightening. They draw a self struggling to navigate a bruising landscape. This is work that is both refreshingly direct and beautifully crafted.” V. Press Guest Editor Charlotte Gann

bed is very raw and very real. 

A sample extract, endorsements, more information and pre-ordering for bed , which was guest-edited by Charlotte Gann, can be found here.

Braised in Wine

Although the poems may appear light-hearted on the surface, D.D. Holland's food-infused Braised in Wine is cut with a sharp knife.

This illustrated pamphlet from the winner of last year's V. Press Prize for Poetry, run with the University of Worcester, is out at the end of April.

“Braised in Wine is a striking debut from D.D. Holland. There is a veritable smorgasbord of ways (case in point) in which food can make its way into common parlance, but Holland breathes new life into her subject matter, exploring the familiar and at times painful emotions that eating can elicit. The poems contained within Braised in Wine unpick how food can fashion the self through memory and relationships, using taste as a way to express a deeper well of feeling. Through small and large acts of confession, Holland conjures powerful and poignant images that bury themselves in the mind. I can’t wait to see what’s next.” Dr Jack McGowan 

“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.