Review news & hot new titles

JUST PUBLISHED

Bereft of Reason

V. Press is very very happy to have published Bereft of Reason, a flash fiction novella by Diane Simmons.

“Diane Simmons is an accomplished writer with an excellent eye for period detail and an acute ear for dialect, both on display in her latest, dazzling work, Bereft of Reason. Set at the tail end of the nineteenth century, the story concerns a horrific crime and explores the rippling consequences experienced by both family and the wider community. Simmons steps seamlessly between characters, never allowing the reader to settle in judgement. In so doing, she enlarges our capacity for empathy, even when faced with an abhorrent act. This is a well paced, page turner peopled with distinct characters I won’t soon forget.” Alison Woodhouse

“Bereft of Reason uses a fascinating ensemble cast structure to tell a compelling story about a crime in the 1890s. The multiple points of view allow Diane Simmons to work through a variety of male and female perspectives upon the central event, in a way that draws out implications and rewarding resonances for our contemporary world. Simmons fuses plot, action and dialogue so skilfully for character-led dramatic realism, as fans of her four previous novellas-in-flash will know. But in effortlessly wielding an ensemble cast structure to deliver a study of how society deals with crime, it feels like Simmons is expanding her writing – and the genre of historical flash fiction – in brand new ways. It’s wonderful to see.” Michael Loveday

Bereft of Reason is very compelling and very shocking.

More information, a sample flash and ordering for Bereft of Reason can be found here.

Hatchery

V. Press is very very delighted to share the launch of Hatchery by Elizabeth Osmond.

“Hatchery is an essential guide on how to wed, celebrate, and advocate for our NHS. Stunning imagery and metaphor stitched throughout in myth, a hard graft medic with historical transitions in care. ‘Take comfort in ritual / step into sacred waters.’ Elizabeth Osmond's poems treat birth to a last breath with all senses, especially touch. She splices medical expertise and tantalising storytelling with human kindness. ‘Doctors in Difficulty’ is raw in its reality of caring whilst juggling family and self. ‘Yeah, this is how it's done’.” Helen Sheppard

“Drawing on her expertise as a neonatal consultant, Elizabeth Osmond applies her impressive sensibilities as a poet to chart a chronological course through the evolution of medical care and prevailing attitudes, skilfully interweaving these fascinating historical dioramas with contemporary testimony borne of experience and observations in the field. Queen Victoria, having ‘chosen to become interested in 2024’, makes ward rounds where ‘She melts through the wall’ and ‘a laced glove strokes the Perspex door’, while modern practitioners undertake the ‘Newborn Check’, ensuring their charges are ‘Creased, as washing bundled fresh from the machine’. A 1903 exhibition of ‘incubator babies’ contrasts with the tender dignity of ‘Conversation’, in which ‘I talk to the baby in the incubator [...] I tell him we all once were stars’. Finding imaginative resonance in references ranging from a zoo’s Reptile House to the BBC Shipping Forecast, these poems are alternately magical and pragmatic, interrogative yet compassionate, brimming with humanity and intelligence. Even if Osmond’s ‘heart is wanting to be fearless / but it is a colander with little holes / through which doubt seeps in’, Hatchery is a work of hope and wonder: ‘I wash my hands’ she writes, ‘and contemplate new life’.” Sarah Doyle

Hatchery is very visceral and very vibrant.

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

REVIEW NEWS

Dreaming Backward

V. Press has always been very very proud to share the poetry of and about all walks of life, so it was lovely to see Dreaming Backward highlighted as a ‘real pleasure’ in a recent article summing up this year's Michael Marks awards for poetry pamphlets.

‘[...] Reed has used the lofty form du jour [lyric essay] to celebrate – of all things – Butlin’s.

‘Resenting “a long tradition of sneering at the working-class”, he shares dozens of their voices from interviews and archives, real and imagined. […] Amid the space-age idealism of the 1960s, Butlin’s seemed “a vision of the new leisure society made real”, Reed writes, “a foretaste of how all life might one day become”. Or, as one former guest puts it: “ok I was only 9 but Christ on a bike, we knew what heaven was”.’

Tristram Fane Saunders, Times Literary Supplement

More information, a sample poem and ordering for Dreaming Backward can be found here.

Palmer

“The story told in these 33 pages is one of awareness growing, of a nascent spiritual life engendered by physical surround – a kiss to a baby’s head, a child’s lost glove, and in imagination, a length of cloth that is both marital bedsheet and shroud.
“[…]The writer’s palmer pilgrimage is one of sudden realisation of what may lie behind this confusion of living that we experience. The book is a weaving of widely-drawn insights, sometimes needing external referencing – though often we are content with the spare beauty of the lines, and the deep resonances they work in us.”
Francis Sheppard, Saturday Books, full review here.

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

Hatchery

“Elizabeth Osmond (a neonatologist) has a unique style that makes this the best poetry book I have read for a long long time.”

Jim Young, Bait the Lines, full review here.

“Elizabeth’s skill in language, imagery and metaphor is present from the first poem and throughout. […] This is a book which will appeal to poetics who appreciate emotive writing that is rooted in lived experience. It will strike a chord with parents and (adult) children. Readers who love explorations of form, language and imagery will enjoy this book. Grab it with both hands and hold it close, it’s a gem of a book.”
Paul Short, The Book Bag, full review here.

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

Bereft of Reason

“The people Simmons creates breathe life into her stories, each one carrying their own dreams in what’s unsaid. At this novella’s end, I’m certain they walk off the page and continue into their own lives. 

“This is a riveting, all-consuming read that will shift your view of the world in just 10,000 words.”

Judy Darley, full review here.

More information, a sample flash and ordering for Bereft of Reason can be found here.

OUT AND ABOUT...

It's been a busy end of spring/start of summer, so we've been slow sharing this, but if it's April, it's Free Verse Poetry Book Fair, run by The Poetry Society, in London. Last year the date was clash for V. Press, so it was even more wonderful to be back there this year. 

The picture here gives a taste of the V. Press stand, where V. Press editor and M.D. Sarah Leavesley was happy to showcase Beth Osmond’s forthcoming (as of 1 May, now published) chapbook Hatchery, offer some new limited edition ‘Spice of Life Poetry Pots’ and throw in some freebies of Kaleidoscope and Always Another Twist. Big thanks to Mantle Lane Press sending on some remaining stock of Sarah's two short companion novellas.

Whatever you're up to this summer, we have a wonderful range of flash fiction, flash fiction novellas, poetry and hybrid titles for your summer reading. You can check out our full list in the Bookshop here. Also, watch out for the latest two titles we're publishing shortly.

COMING SOON...

The Neverlands (bound version)

V. Press is very very delighted to be publishing a bound version of the Saboteur Awards 2020 Best Novella, The Neverlands by Damhnait Monaghan.

“The Neverlands, a virtuoso mosaic of microfictions by Damhnait Monaghan, tells the story of Nuala, a child caught in the crossfire of her parents' troubled marriage. This is a family epic in flash form, masterfully and movingly distilled, both devastating and hopeful. A gorgeous debut.” 
Kathy Fish

“The Neverlands is a heart-tugger of a collection. In pitch-perfect colloquial prose, Damhnait Monaghan waltzes us through the sorrows of a poverty-stricken Irish family, who struggle to love each other well. Funny, clever, warm and sad, this is a beautiful book.” 
Nuala O’Connor

The interconnected stories in The Neverlands are very raw and very real.

WINNER of SABOTEUR AWARDS 2020 BEST NOVELLA!

This title is also available as an eBook.

More details, a sample flash and pre-ordering for The Neverlands can be found here.

Some Dark God 

V. Press is also very delighted and very excited to be publishing Some Dark God by Catherine Balaq.

“The shadows in Catherine Balaq’s poetry are richly nuanced and playful. ‘Catch my dark / between your teeth’ invites one speaker. Returning to the body throughout, her quick imagination moves through bleak, unnerving territory with a lightness of touch, reshaping the world, a toad eating a family house, ‘his tongue under the walls’. This is sharply observed, stirring writing.” 
John McCullough

“Such a dark, magnificent creation. I devoured the poems. Strident, compelling dispatches from the underworld, meticulously crafted. These poems will get under your skin, go straight for the heart.”
Helen Mort

Some Dark God is very sacred and very profane. 

More details, a sample poem and pre-ordering for Some Dark God can be found here.

Here's to a warm -- but not too warm! -- summer and happy reading!