Other books that might interest you

• 

  In Conversation

  Janice M Whyne

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Since childhood, Janice Whyne has been a words person, writing prose-filled Christmas cards, songs and poetry. She sees poetry as a means of self-expression. A conduit and a safe space for our emotions, feelings and lived experiences. She's a Londoner by birthplace, a Jamaican by birthright, and also regards Indonesia as another homeland. 
  In Conversation is a personal milestone in Janice's journey of rediscovering her creative self. Along the way, she's ventured into the world of open mics, spoken word and poetry slams; winning 1st runner-up at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Poetry Slam 2019 & 2022. 
  The poems in In Conversation began their lives with a word(s) exchanged in conversation or that captured her attention in something she was listening to or viewing. She regards them as articulations of the said and unsaid; with the poetic voice in them not always hers, but rather an expression of the voice(s) of others. 
  Readers have described it as unapologetic, raw, poignant, vulnerable and brave: a journey. 
  "It speaks of someone that feels and loves much for this world, the wonderful imperfect people in it, and the injustices that go on."  
  Themes of life, loss, love, protest and more are awaiting all who choose to engage in conversation with these poems. 
  Her poem 'Sitting with Amazing' is part of The Poetry Archive Now Worldview 2021 Winners collection. Other poems have been featured in ‘Coffee & Contemplation: a taste of empowerment’ (2020), Coffee People Zine, Issue 10 (2020), All My Relations, Volume 5, Talbot-Heindl (2023), ‘Her locks unveiled: poems from the Black in White poetry competition’ (2023) as well as in other online and printed mediums.

  Show book

• 

  Hedonism

  Chris McCabe

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Join a carnival of characters including Bez from Happy Mondays, Jorge Louis Borges, and a medieval pilgrim on a journey to buy a PlayStation, in McCabe's sixth and most daring collection. Part-written in Scouse dialect and invented languages, Hedonism offsets the comic with the elegiac in a spectral and polyphonic work exploring the intersection of grief, place, memory and imagination.
  This is a book where haunted pasts and futures collide; in a post-Brexit landscape, through cities both imagined and real, McCabe's poems merge through timeslips and ghostly encounters, all the time electrified by the great connector of language at its most radical and unruly. These incandescent poems surge and resist expectation and formula – declaring "can it be, after all, that hedonism is the only activism?"

  Show book

• 

  The Lightest Element

  Stella Feehily

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  'Nothing compares with being the first person in the history of the world to see something, but timing is everything. The world has to be ready for you.'
  Boston, 1956. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, one of the most eminent astronomers of the twentieth century, is about to be appointed Chair of Astronomy and the first woman to head a department at Harvard University. Only two things stand in her way: a covert investigation aimed at exposing her as a Communist sympathiser, and the entrenched conservatism of her male colleagues.
  When a student journalist asks to profile her, it feels like an opportunity to control her own narrative – assuming, of course, that the invitation is actually what it seems…
  Stella Feehily's play The Lightest Element is a taut drama exploring how a challenge to social norms can be almost as difficult as overturning scientific orthodoxy. It premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2024, directed by Alice Hamilton.

  Show book

• 

  Sea Creatures

  Cordelia Lynn

  • 1
  • 0
  • 0

  'Where's Robin?
  Where's Robin?
  Where's Robin?'
  In a cottage by the sea, four women live in a house made for five. Meals are prepared, stories are shared and the waves break on the shore. When only one of their two expected guests arrives for the summer, life is about to change for all of them...
  Cordelia Lynn's Sea Creatures is a haunting play about grief, loss and the power of storytelling. It opened at Hampstead Theatre, London, in March 2023, directed by James Macdonald.

  Show book

• 

  The Unrooted Bloom

  Amber Allen-Peirson

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Unrooted Bloom is a deeply personal poetry collection by Amber Allen-Peirson that explores themes of racial identity, belonging, and the complexities of navigating life as a biracial woman in a racially divided society. Through lyrical and evocative language, Amber’s writing captures the internal struggle of reconciling her Black and White heritage, often torn between two worlds that don’t fully accept her. Her style combines vivid imagery with raw emotional honesty, drawing the reader into her journey of self-discovery and the tension she feels between multiple identities. The collection also delves into the intricate dynamics of family, exploring how generational trauma, love, addiction, and complicated relationships have shaped her sense of self. Grief plays a central role in her work, reflecting the loss of loved ones, both through death and emotional distance, and how this grief intertwines with her search for identity. Amber’s resilience shines through, offering a powerful narrative on healing and the strength required to rebuild after hardship. The Unrooted Bloom is a profound exploration of what it means to exist in the space between, encouraging readers to embrace the complexities of their own identities while finding strength in their multifaceted selves.

  Show book

• 

  Tam O'Shanter - Burns had a way...

  Robert Burns

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Many nations have produced outstanding poets who they would gladly have represent their Culture.  But can any Nation say they have an equivalent of Robbie Burns?  Rabbie. The Ploughman Poet.  The Bard (Of Scotland).  This one poet is indelibly linked and intertwined with the culture and people of Scotland.  His life, loves, politics, verse and songs speak as them and for them.  
  From humble roots, the eldest son of seven born in 1759 to parents, both from tenant farming stock, the family endured both hardship and poverty.   Burns endured the test and began to write first at 15 and to publish his first volume some two years later.    
  He wrote in both true Scottish, dialect and English as well as turning his hand to song.  Politically he was an inspiration to both liberalism and socialism as well as a Scottish parliament.  His unique ability enabled him to appeal to all and quite rightly to be viewed as the National poet.    
  As well as creating his own great works he was also an avid collector of Scottish Folk Songs preserving for posterity the works of others.  
  However his own life was short dying at the young age of only 37.   What further greatness would have lain before him is impossible to say.  But, poetically, on the day of his death his son, Maxwell was born.    
  His fame today is worldwide and celebrated in January each year with the Traditional Burns night.  Each New Years Eve friends and families the world over link arms to ‘Auld Lang Syne’, giving immortality to his words and aims.  
  As former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan says:  Burn’s poems dignify and illuminate the struggle faced by the vast majority of the world’s population today.

  Show book