Introducing Chez Nous

V, Press is very very excited to announce its new 'Chez Nous' recommendation scheme and introduce our poetry 'sommeliers'.

We have gathered together a small team of poetry tasters who will recommend their favourite tipples to enjoy with each V. Press publication.

They are:

Jane Campion Hoye is a poetic writer, storyteller and performer, who has gathered knowledge of a diversity of wines from around the world…whether filming in a German vineyard or sampling the liquid silk of a smooth cabernet on Stellenbosch’s wine route in Cape Town.  And not only wine. Her poem 'Waterfall Glory', recently selected for international publication Inspired By My Museum, was first penned on a visit to the Guinness Museum in Dublin. For more about Jane’s work see: www.inspire2speak.com.

Julie Boden was co-proprietor of a Country House Hotel for more than 20 years, so has had to taste an extensive range of wines – hard work... but someone had to do it! This year, she celebrates her tenth year as Poet in Residence at Symphony Hall, and continues to enjoy working on exciting new collaborations with a selection of amazing musicians. Following her BAFTA nomination in 2012, she has enjoyed writing new pieces for theatre and film and, when not writing or performing her work, she loves to relax and to raise a glass or two with her lovely family and friends.

Angela Topping was born in the year post-war food rationing ended. Perhaps this is the reason for her lifelong love affair with food and all good things. Another of those good things is poetry, of which she has written seven collections and three pamphlets. Over the years, her prowess in wine appreciation has graduated from Blue Nun and Mateus Rose into a liking for the finer fragranced and fuller bodied. And since she has become more full bodied and likes perfume, this is very appropriate. For years, wine was a balm after a hard day in the classroom and now she is freelance again, it is an inspiration and a treat.

The Anon Poet: Our anonymous wine connoisseur is in fact a number of different people, who may be a non-poet. Our three V. Press wine-lovers have generously agreed to make regular Chez Nous recommendations. The Anon Poet allows for poetry-lovers who wish to take part but remain anonymous, or to only recommend very occasionally.

N.B. Anyone tempted by the Anon Poet role should email vpresspoetryAThotmailDOTcom. While those doing this will need to be anonymous on the V. Press website, we would be perfectly happy if they wished to blog about their involvement elsewhere.

poetry that is very very

While the V. Press blog has been quiet, we've been very busy behind the scenes: reading submissions, making decisions about our first solo poet pamphlets and planning a few other surprises for next year.

SUBMISSIONS

We were absolutely delighted with the poems received in our first open submissions window. The joy of reading was only tempered slightly by how hard this made the final decisions.

In the end, we asked to see the full pamphlets by four poets. We are delighted to have offered publication to one poet and hope to launch this very, very exciting pamphlet in the spring. More details of this will follow soon, along hopefully with some other publications news.

CHRISTMAS STOCKING FILLER

It's the first day of advent and, if you're looking for a small poetic something to offer the one you love, laugh with or lust after, then the V. Press pamphlet anthology The Vaginellas may be just the thing. We have a few copies of this delicious concoction of fun left in the bookshop post the poets' Ledbury Poetry Festival gig. At just £5, we hope you'll find it very, very tempting! 

Early/not-so-early festive greetings from V. Press.

Submissions Closed

Thank you to all the poets who sent us work during last month's submission windows.

Although statistics have little to do with individual poems and poetry collections, an initial scan of the inbox reveals roughly two thirds of those who submitted are women. Also, roughly two thirds of those who submitted are based in the West Midlands.

We will now be reading all the poems and considering these submissions in detail. Our aim is to send initial responses out to everyone by the end of October.

Thank you again to everyone who submitted.

Submissions Open for August

V. Press submissions open for August! 

What are we looking for? Well, maybe poetry that opens, or closes, doors inside, that shines a light where most people walk past or that illuminates the familiar in a different way. Or however else a poet chooses to interpret 'very, very' in a meaningful/crafted/awe-inspiring way.

Full guidelines can be found here or under the submissions tab in the menu above. Please do follow these, or poems are likely to be returned unread.

Celebrations!

It's just over a year since V. Press was set up and almost a year from the Vs' frisson-filled, packed hall performance with the Decadent Divas at Ledbury Poetry Festival.
With all this behind us and so much in front, we're gearing up and excited about tomorrow's 'Wild & Foxy' festival event.
The Droitwich Summer Festival live lit evening features V. Press poets Jenny Hope, Ruth Stacey, Sarah James and Catherine Crosswell, plus guest poet Antony Owen, with his new Pighog collection and the wild side of war and urban life.
The event at Park's Cafe, Droitwich, from 7pm-9.30pm also includes an open mic section, if anyone is in or near Worcestershire over the weekend.

'Wild & Foxy'

Hot-off-the-press news this morning about V. Press poets headling at a festival event this summer.

Following on from the success of last year's the Vs performance at Ledbury Poetry Festival, V. Press poets will be reading in a new 'Wild and Foxy' festival showcase.

This free live lit evening at Park’s Café on Saturday, June 28 is part of this year’s Droitwich Summer Festival line-up.

The Droitwich Art Network (DAN) spoken word event will be headlined by V. Press poets Catherine Crosswell, Jenny Hope, Ruth Stacey and Sarah James, with Guest Poet Antony Owen.

The four Worcestershire V. Press poets will be dishing up a range of poems for a range of tastes, revealing the theme’s literal and metaphorical flavours.

From nature and wildlife to poetry that’s a little more saucy, the evening will feature a small sample from the group’s V. Press anthology, as well as new performance work and poems from their individual collections.

Meanwhile, this year is the centenary of the start of World War I and Coventry's Antony Owen will be bringing the wild side of war and urban life to the live lit event.. 

All three of his published poetry collections focus heavily on people overlooked in society and conflict. He will be reading from his latest collection, The year I loved England, a collaboration of poetry with Birmingham Irish poet Joseph Horgan that will be published in July by Pighog Press

The night, which runs from 7pm-9.30pm, will also feature an open mic section, where other writers, or acoustic musicians/singers, can share their interpretations of ‘wild and foxy’ (though please note, not too much sauce!).

These slots (of six minutes maximum) should be booked in advance by emailing DAN secretary and event organiser Sarah Leavesley on lifeislikeacherrytreeATyahooDOTcom.

A limited number of 6-minute (maximum) open mic spots will also be available on the night. Please arrive early to sign up for these.

Food will be available. Please contact Park’s Café on 01905 776 633 to reserve a table at the resturant in Victoria Square, Droitwich.

There will also be the chance to buy books by the four poets and get these signed.

The Vaginellas at Ledbury Poetry Festival

Last Thursday saw Catherine Crosswell, Jenny Hope, Sarah James and Ruth Stacey perform their The Vaginellas poems to a packed hall at Ledbury Poetry Festival. The show, for which the Vs teamed up with the fabulous Decadent Divas, combines performance poetry and page poetry, setting humour, innuendo and belly-laughs alongside more serious feminist pieces. The buzz of anticipation among the audience pre-show was amazing! It was a truly fantastic night – the atmosphere incredible and the audience wonderful. V. Press's special chapbook of V poems from the Ledbury performance can be purchased here (or through Amazon).