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  What Noise Against the Cane

  Desiree C. Bailey

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  The 115th volume of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, What Noise Against the Cane is a lyric quest for belonging and freedom, weaving political resistance, Caribbean folklore, immigration, and the realities of Black life in America. Desiree C. Bailey begins by reworking the epic in an oceanic narrative of bondage and liberation in the midst of the Haitian Revolution. The poems move into the contemporary Black diaspora, probing the mythologies of home, belief, nation, and womanhood. Series judge Carl Phillips observes that Bailey’s “poems argue for hope and faith equally… These are powerful poems, indeed, and they make a persuasive argument for the transformative powers of steady defiance.”

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  Poems and Songs in the...

  Edwin Waugh

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  A selection of poems in the Lancashire dialect by the foremost exponent of the form. A printer by training, Edwin Waugh left his trade for secretarial work and began his literary career in 1852. His first dialect poem, 'Come whoam to thi' childer and me', was written at the Clarence Hotel, Manchester, on 10 June 1856 and published in the Manchester Examiner the following day. The best known Lancashire dialect poem of its day, it inspired numerous followers whose dialect poetry and prose provided an often nostalgic accompaniment to the sound and fury of the industrial revolution. This selection of dialect poems was published shortly after Waugh's death alongside a selection of his standard English poetry. It consists of the poems that editor George Milner judged to be presentable and is accompanied by a critical introduction and commentary on Waugh's use of the Rochdale variety of the Lancashire dialect. - Summary by Phil Benson

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  The Poetry of Edmund Spenser

  Edmund Spenser

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  One of the greatest of English poets, Edmund Spenser was born in East Smithfield, London, in 1552 and went to school at Merchant Taylors' School and later at Pembroke College, Cambridge.   
  In 1579, he published The Shepheardes Calender, his first major work.   
  Edmund journeyed to Ireland in July 1580, in the service of the newly appointed Lord Deputy, Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton. His time included the terrible massacre at the Siege of Smerwick.  
  The epic poem, The Faerie Queene, is acknowledged as Edmund’s masterpiece. The first three books were published in 1590, and a second set of three books were published in 1596.   
  Indeed the reality is that Spenser, through his great talents, was able to move Poetry in a different direction.  It led to him being called a Poet’s Poet and brought rich admiration from Milton, Raleigh, Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, and Tennyson, among others.   
  Spenser returned to Ireland and in 1591, Complaints, a collection of poems that voices complaints in mournful or mocking tones was published.  In 1595, Spenser published Amoretti and Epithalamion in a volume that contains eighty-nine sonnets.  
  In the following year he wrote a prose pamphlet entitled A View of the Present State of Ireland, a highly inflammatory argument for the pacification and destruction of Irish culture. 
  On January 13th 1599 Edmund Spenser died at the age of forty-six.  His coffin was carried to his grave in Westminster Abbey by other poets, who threw pens and poetic pieces into his grave.  
   This volume comes to you from Portable Poetry, a specialized imprint from Deadtree Publishing.  Our range is large and growing and covers single poets, themes, and many compilations.

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  Somewhere Out There You (NHB...

  Nancy Harris

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  Casey's new boyfriend Brett is handsome, romantic and devoted – a dream come true. He writes poetry! He makes quiche! For once in her life, Casey is in a relationship with a man who attends to her every whim and desire.
  But when her suspicious sister Cynthia starts digging into Brett's past, she threatens to take away the one good thing that's ever happened to Casey…
  Nancy Harris's play Somewhere Out There You is a romantic comedy with a twist, playfully unravelling the love stories we weave for ourselves and inviting us to question what compels us to tell them in the first place. It was first performed in 2023 at the Abbey Theatre, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, directed by Wayne Jordan.
  'Delightful… insightfully skewers the delusions and hypocrisies that are at the heart of most romantic relationships'The Stage
  'Bold and enjoyable'Irish Times
  'Sparkily original'Irish Independent
  'A refreshingly lighthearted comedy with some very funny lines and a Charlie Kaufmanesque twist… a warm and upbeat piece that makes you question the nature of love and its importance in our lives'No More Workhorse
  'Hilariously entertaining, with just a dash of romance, Somewhere Out There You is a laugh out loud delight. A perfect first date for hopeless romantics and the romantically hopeless'Arts Review

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  The Great Gatsby

  F Scott igerald

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  The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.  
  Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. Inspired by a youthful romance Fitzgerald had with socialite Ginevra King, and the riotous parties he attended on Long Island's North Shore in 1922.  
  During World War II, the novel experienced an abrupt surge in popularity when the Council on Books in Wartime distributed free copies to American soldiers serving overseas. This new-found popularity launched a critical and scholarly re-examination, and the work soon became a core part of most American high school curricula and a part of American popular culture. Numerous stage and film adaptations followed in the subsequent decades.  
  Gatsby continues to attract popular and scholarly attention.  
  Contemporary scholars emphasize the novel's treatment of social class, inherited versus self-made wealth, race, and environmentalism, and its cynical attitude towards the American dream. The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary masterwork and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel.  
  Narrated by Michael Ward.

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  Roald Dahl's The Twits (NHB...

  Roald Dahl

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  Mr and Mrs Twit are not very nice. In fact they're extremely nasty. They're nasty to each other, and they're VILE to everyone else.
  They hold a family of monkeys hostage in a cage and force them to stand on their heads. ALL THE TIME.
  We told you they weren't very nice. Can the monkeys find a way to show those vicious Twits what for?
  Mischievously adapted from Roald Dahl's story, acclaimed playwright Enda Walsh turns The Twits upside down and brings this revolting revolution to the stage.
  First performed at the Royal Court Theatre in April 2015.

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