Publisher: Libresco Feeds Pvt Ltd
21 Messages are tiny motivations to uplift you and set you thinking about a variety of things. A good gift to others and a good self booster always!
'I needed to be better... and summat needed to change – to keep them safe. To fix my family.' When her mother disappears, teenager Cassie wants to care for her sisters on her own. But can kids be parents? Or should Cassie let foster parents adopt her sisters and create a new family? Alex Howarth's play Cassie and the Lights is a tender and playful examination of what makes a family and what holds it together. Based on real-life events and interviews with children in care, it celebrates the resilience of young people and the power of sisterhood. The play has been performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, VAULT Festival in London, 59E59 in New York City and Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia. It toured the UK in 2024, produced by Patch of Blue and 3 hearts canvas, in association with Southwark Playhouse and Verse Unbound.Show book
'I'm the one who's left behind. I'm the one to tell the tale. I knew them both, knew how they lived and how she died.' Ella Grey and her friends are ordinary kids from ordinary families in an ordinary world. They fall in and out of love, play music, stare at the stars, yearn for excitement, and have parties on the beautiful beaches of Northumberland. One day a stranger – a musician called Orpheus – appears on the beach, entrancing them all, but particularly Ella. Where have they come from and what path will Ella follow? A Song for Ella Grey is a version of the myth of Orpheus that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death. Zoe Cooper's stage adaptation of David Almond's award-winning novel was first produced in 2024 by Pilot Theatre, in association with Northern Stage and York Theatre Royal. This edition includes the full text of the play along with a range of teaching materials and resources designed to help educators bring the play to life for their students. Praise for the novel: 'Infused with lyricism and with the fire and oddness of adolescence. Fresh, involving and lucid, it is a song in itself and teens will find it fills them with poignant longing and joy' Telegraph 'The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is retold against a wild Northumbrian landscape: life, death, love and myths. Just wonderful' Bookseller 'Extraordinary' Metro 'Spell-binding… impossible to resist' HeraldShow book
"Beowulf" is an Old English epic poem and one of the most significant and influential works of early English literature. Consisting of over 3,000 lines, it narrates the tale of its hero, Beowulf, and his adventures as he battles the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother, and later in his life, a dragon. The poem delves into themes of heroism, bravery, the transient nature of life, and the conflict between good and evil. Written by an unknown poet, "Beowulf" dates back to somewhere between the 8th and early 11th century and is preserved in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex.Show book
""Is this a dagger I see before me?"" Features a unique cover illustration by Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), specially commissioned for the Shakespeare on Compact Disc series.Show book
Why I Am Not a Bus Driver is a moving and musical debut collection exploring grief, love and the power of community, from the author of The 392, Your Show and Wild East. The heart of this book beats in sync with that of the poet's late grandfather, as, sonnet after unconventional sonnet, Hickson-Lovence uncovers the micro-histories woven into the streets and journeys that shape us. These poems speak with Frank O'Hara, in their stream-of-consciousness lyricism, in meditations that dance like winding roads, both immediate and nostalgic. Committed to honouring the authentic and everyday, the real and true, human connection is the destination in this stirring collection, and every reader has a priority seat. "Among the most natural, elegant sonnet sequences I've read: a memorial, moving in its radical honesty and grace. What both broke and strengthened my heart about this collection is the sheer humanity and authentic curiosity that make a life feel meaningful, transfiguring both the extraordinary and the everyday with dignity, love and imagination. Just gorgeous." Luke Kennard "A moving collection attuned to the knowledge that poetry of the family is both plain and complex, that the dead sometimes require elegy and sometimes celebration; and all of this held within the strength and uncertainty that is the human-made body of the poem." Andrew McMillan "A heartfelt elegy to a grandfather, skilfully weaving themes of legacy, promises, influences and dreams. While the grandfather takes centre stage, England itself emerges as a powerful backdrop to the story. Hickson-Lovence's unified themes lend the book the feel of a novel-in-verse, yet each poem resonates with its own emotional strength. An endearing and enlightening read—don't miss it." Roger Robinson "Ashley Hickson-Lovence's debut collection offers an intricate reminiscence, an insight into fierce familial bonds and how they shape a life indefinitely. These poems pulse with longing, vulnerability and doubt, highlighting the human need for connection, the resilience that grows from loss, the certainty that comes when the love unfolds." Rebecca GossShow book
The stereotypical image of a poet is one of unknown talent starving in a garret and who’s faithfulness and legacy to the art is discovered only after their death. In some cases this is undoubtedly true, but Poets being human and with the same building blocks of physical and mental health as the rest of us, also had the same afflictions and problems as the rest of us. The long roll call of names and the truncated legacies that were left behind is filled with these lost talents. In this volume we bring together those writers of verse and poetry who sadly died so young that their works may be small in number but glint with such brave, revealing and inventive verse that one can only imagine what heights poetry with their full lives could have been taken to.Show book
