{"title":"In Case You Missed It","description":"\u003cp\u003eA year on from publication, these 2025 titles are ready for discovery. Literary fiction, short stories and non-fiction from an independent publisher.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-anechoic-chamber-9781784633288","title":"The Anechoic Chamber","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSeries\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eName:\u003c\/strong\u003e Salt Modern Stories   \u003cstrong\u003eNumber:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Funny, chilling, intriguing: each tale offers something different from the last, and the overall result is like listening to a perfectly made album.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn anechoic chamber is a soundproofed room with no echo. The profound silence it produces is disturbing enough. But listen carefully and you’ll hear something worse … In this new collection of uncanny short stories, award-winning author Will Wiles finds sinister creatures and subtle nightmares in mundane modern environments and bureaucracy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA cursed NHS file brings doom to whoever handles it. A memory-foam mattress breaks down the walls of sleep. A marketing executive for a property developer turns to the occult. And horror seeps from the most unexpected places: eBay purchases, boxes of holiday photographs, and the hidden corners of the smart TV menu. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile mostly modern in setting, this is a collection steeped in the tradition of the weird tale and the ghost story, and includes homages to the greats of the previous century: a doomed Edwardian antiquarian is drawn into a murderous plot involving a Roman mosaic, and river boatmen uncover eldritch terror in a deserted mining town. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou’ll never look at some things the same way again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘There aren't many writers out there as entertaining as Will Wiles. He has a real gift for manoeuvring between the quotidian and the truly sinister, often within a single page. These brilliantly executed stories offer delicious bite-size portions of his unsettling wit and eye for the killer detail (sometimes literally). Funny, chilling, intriguing: each tale offers something different from the last, and the overall result is like listening to a perfectly made album.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘‘A Private Square of Sky’ made the most impact on me and I thought it was worthy of the vintage ‘weird stories’ writers. It’s set in Barcelona where the sky above a particular apartment block appears to be completely different, looking into a far corner of the universe. I would recommend this book, just for the story alone!’ —\u003ccite\u003eNS Ford Writer\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles is smart and his stories are smart. ‘A Private Square of Sky’ feels like an intellectual reboot of Mark Danielewski’s \u003ccite\u003eHouse of Leaves\u003c\/cite\u003e. ‘Notes on London’s Housing Crisis’ could have come from the hand of William Gibson. ‘Moths’ (which concerns a sort of photographic ailment spreading from image to image) feels like the kind of thing \u003ccite\u003eSapphire \u0026amp; Steel\u003c\/cite\u003e would have investigated once upon a time. There are other stories here every bit as good as the ones we’ve mentioned here. \u003ccite\u003eThe Anechoic Chamber\u003c\/cite\u003e is very much an all-killer no filler read.’ —\u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Welcome to the off-kilter neighbourhoods in Will Wiles’ weird world, where warnings are ignored and sage advice goes unheeded, with dire consequences for his increasingly frightened characters in these nimble, shivery stories.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe five funniest books of all time, according to Mark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e I’m nominating this recently published collection of short stories for one in particular, called ‘The Meat Stream’, which is among the funniest things I’ve read in my life. But Wiles is consistently one of the most entertaining writers around at the moment.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe i Paper\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles is basically Kafka, if Kafka had spent more time in British hotels and pubs.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Baddiel\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Will Wiles both re-invents and murders the London novel, in a spectacular act of evil, surgical intensity.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eWarren Ellis\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A very funny novel combining schadenfreude and belly laughs. Just don’t let Wiles flat-sit for you.’ —\u003ccite\u003eIndependent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Funny, beguiling and quietly profound; a wonderfully well-crafted debut.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Dark and funny in equal measures … a debut as crisp, slick and polished as a well-cared-for wooden floor.’ —\u003ccite\u003eScotland on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A nicely turned satire on the notion that the path to spiritual contentment lies in a pristine set of polished wooden floorboards … Wiles has an eye for beauty, but an even more impressive eye for ugliness … a novel full of impeccably stylish writing.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles is a talent to watch.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The book is joy unconfined: the reader is sucked along unstoppably, but glorying too with uncomfortable recognition. Fabulous in every sense.’ —\u003ccite\u003eSpectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles takes us deep into a subtly altered London at the mercy of the malign forces of gentrification, and seemingly in the hands of a mysterious tech maven whose new app can track every user at all times … an eerie and sometimes pretty sharp satire on the more sinister commodifications of modern life.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003ePlume\u003c\/cite\u003e’s cast of semi-sinister clowns aren’t the most sympathetic, but it’s the suffocating, Ballardian sense of place and mental and physical deterioration that Wiles, a design and architecture writer when not a novelist, does so horribly well. \u003ccite\u003ePlume\u003c\/cite\u003e is about a man trapped in a prison of his own making who endlessly gets nowhere at all.’ —\u003ccite\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Will Wiles","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47102145364268,"sku":"9781784633288","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781784633288.jpg?v=1696087085"},{"product_id":"the-homecoming-9781784633394","title":"The Homecoming","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThe Homecoming\u003c\/cite\u003e is Zoë Apostolides’s debut novel. 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I can’t believe this is a debut.’ —\u003ccite\u003eSmitten for Fiction\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Homecoming\u003c\/cite\u003e is a slow-burn knockout—equal parts eerie mystery and emotional gut-punch.’ —\u003ccite\u003eOntario Library Association\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An intriguing and informative read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJoy Kluver\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This is a chilling read.’ —\u003ccite\u003eAmazon\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A sensitively written and poignant account.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHelen Frost\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eGoodreads\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Zoë Apostolides","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49157328077100,"sku":"9781784633394","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633394_f1c79945-d609-432e-927f-6aaf30beb3f9.jpg?v=1718270613"},{"product_id":"lie-of-the-land-9781784633318","title":"Lie of the Land","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ccite\u003eLie of the Land\u003c\/cite\u003e is a dark, domestic literary thriller set in the Black Country in the Midlands, UK. When Rory and Jemma meet, Rory already has a girlfriend, but that doesn’t stop them getting together and, much sooner than Jemma would like, they’re buying their first house together in the heart of the grimy Midlands.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The Rocks’ is a run-down, ‘doer-upper’ and right from the off, Jemma is reluctant and unhappy, far from ready for commitment. But there is something about the house that is both compelling and sinister, and the situation takes a darker turn when a terrible accident happens involving their new next door neighbours, forcing both Jemma and Rory to tackle their inner demons.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThemes of toxic relationships, secrets and deceit are intensified by a judgmental narrative voice which propels the plot to its even darker resolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘There is never any resisting the devastating spell of Kerry Hadley-Pryce’s prose. I’ve loved every novel she’s written, and with her latest, she has outdone herself. Suffused with dark beauty and populated by people who are even more haunted than their dank secretive home might be, \u003ccite\u003eLie of the Land\u003c\/cite\u003e is an enthralling read that’s as mesmerising as it’s menacing. Although you might find yourself unravelling alongside its characters, you won’t be able to put it down.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMegan Taylor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This is a cracking novel. Written in prose that suggests the existence of a literary terroir, it flits with expertly sinister intent between the shadows of the psychological thriller, the murder mystery and the ghost story. An excellent addition to Hadley-Pryce's ongoing and lovingly uncompromising challenge to the Black Country Tourist Board.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCharlie Hill\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘No one else writes like Kerry Hadley-Pryce, with her unique and unsettling way of dragging you into her stories and making you complicit in their outcomes. Her latest novel, \u003ccite\u003eLie of the Land\u003c\/cite\u003e, is a compulsive read that grips the reader and doesn't stop playing with you, twisting your perceptions, your sympathies and your judgements. Is it a haunted house story, a crime novel, a domestic noir? It's all of this and more: a modern gothic horror that I could not look away from, a page turner that left me with the uncanny feeling that something was haunting the book itself. If Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith got together and made a creepy baby, Kerry Hadley-Pryce would be the result. She's a magician, and this book will drag you under her spell.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGeorgina Bruce\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This decidedly bleak 4th novel by a British writer occupies the liminal space between the currently fashionable domestic thriller genre and a sharp sense of gothic horror at times reminiscent of Shirley Jackson … Intense, carried by an oblique and literary narrative voice, this is the stuff of nightmares and a striking portrait of a couple whose sins just won’t let go of them, unable to detach themselves from a living nightmare with inexorable consequences. Oppressive, at times awkward to follow but nonetheless compelling, this is a hybrid thriller cum ghost story that packs a dark punch and will divide readers while deserving attention for its ambition and powerful voice.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMaxim Jakubowski\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eCrime Time\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eLie of the Land\u003c\/em\u003e is a dark and unsettling account of how a young woman loses the sense she has of herself after becoming involved with a man. It is mostly written in what I believe is present perfect tense, a choice that somehow adds a sense of foreboding. It is clear from the start that bad things have happened but what and to whom constitutes the story.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJackie Law\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This book had me on edge from start to finish. The writing is raw, gripping, and layered with complexity. It’s not just about the thrill of the plot but the emotions it evokes the unease, the tension, and the chilling sense of inevitability. If you love stories that blur the line between psychological drama and literary fiction, this one is a must-read.’ —\u003ccite\u003eBook Tales Official\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Hauntingly beautiful, mesmerizing, harrowing and poetic. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite reads this year!’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Story Graph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The Black Country. Dark, foreboding gloom-ridden. \u003ccite\u003eLie of the Land\u003c\/cite\u003e is exactly the same: dark, foreboding with an aura of gloom and added tension as our main protagonist, Jemma, is faced with ever-increasing anxiety as she makes major life changes that have unforeseen consequences for herself and those around her. She had what seemed the perfect life but after what she thought would be a one night stand she is sucked into a relationship which has tragic consequences and tilts her balanced lifestyle.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJonathan Wilkins\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eEverybody’s Reviewing\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I have been blogging here for more than ten years, and reviewing books online for longer than that, and in all that time I have, but very rarely, perhaps five or six times, come across a book so stunning, so good, that it's actually hard to know what to say about it (beyond \"read this\"). \u003ccite\u003eLie of the Land\u003c\/cite\u003e is such a book.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Harris\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eBlue Book Balloon\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eGod’s Country\u003c\/cite\u003e, by Kerry Hadley-Pryce, is a disturbingly atmospheric story set in The Black Country, a place without borders marked on maps, yet has shaped generations of people raised within its haunting environs. The narrator – a fabulously unsettling voice – is constructing a tale based on their own knowledge of the characters and place, and from what they have been told by the protagonist, Alison.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJackie Law\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eneverimitate\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘★★★★★ \u003ccite\u003eGod’s Country\u003c\/cite\u003e is Kerry Hadley Pryce’s most densely written novel yet. The key occurrences of the novel are told to Alison by her partner Guy, whose involvement in them has left him deeply disturbed. So: can Alison trust Guy? Can the narrator trust Alison? Can we trust the narrator? In each case, not necessarily. I’ve not come across a narrative so keen to draw attention to its own unreliability since \u003ccite\u003eThe Name of the Rose\u003c\/cite\u003e. And I’ve not come across so distinct a use of tense since Emma Tennant’s \u003ccite\u003eWild Nights\u003c\/cite\u003e.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Clay\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eGoodreads\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Landscape is a cauldron for Kerry Hadley-Pryce’s intensely creepy and evocative writing.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGeorgina Bruce\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eBlack Static\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Black Country\u003c\/cite\u003e is a macabre triumph, whether you read it as a horror fable about love or a meditation on the controlling character of the artist. Either way, this ambitious and memorable first novel loiters like a rotting fish left behind the fridge.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJames Kidd\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Kerry Hadley-Pryce creates the stifling atmosphere of a contemporary England.’ —\u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Hadley-Pryce has a unique and impressive way of not only getting into the minds of the characters but also the readers.’ —\u003ccite\u003eFor the Literature\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kerry Hadley-Pryce","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49174220177708,"sku":"9781784633318","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633318_78d86aea-e263-4e99-917c-eb599900eaad.jpg?v=1718397861"},{"product_id":"saying-dirty-things-in-regional-accents-9781784633332","title":"Saying Dirty Things in Regional Accents","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSeries\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eName:\u003c\/strong\u003e Salt Modern Stories   \u003cstrong\u003eNumber:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCampbell gives voice to the extraordinary (never ordinary) men and women of Manchester. He goes beyond the King's English and formulaic approaches to short stories to capture, in print, how people really talk. Think James Kelman, Irvine Welsh, but Mancunian. Funny and heartfelt, this book is a romp to whizz through with pleasure. Forget mad for it Madchester, this is the Manchester of now, where Hacienda clichés turn into corporate nightmares and the only art is in marketing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Short, sharp and scabrously funny, Campbell’s energetic, raw short stories head into the backstreets and byways of Manchester. His swaggering and unsentimental style unspools societal ills and how they impact the lives of his characters.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eSaying Dirty Things in Regional Accents\u003c\/cite\u003e, is lively, bold and insightful … His use of form is also anything but ordinary, as he deviates from the standard and the expected to ensure each story relayed here is refreshingly unique. This is how reading should be: entertaining, enjoyable and original.⁠’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJen Bowden, editor of Northern Voices\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The passing of time (and all of its sickening crimes) is one of Campbell’s regular concerns (as is the passing of a father figure – a lot of stories here concern people who have recently lost their father). You sense Campbell’s ghostly figure as he walks the streets of Manchester, remembering sad days past, the glory of which overshadow the dismal present. But it should be said (in case you think Campbell is a gloomy sort) \u003ccite\u003eSaying Dirty Things in Regional Accents\u003c\/cite\u003e is also funny, beautifully observed, and entertaining fare for an admittedly rainy and overcast start to the new year.’ —\u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On previous work) In \u003ccite\u003eLicensed Premises\u003c\/cite\u003e there is a greater willingness to take risks, to step outside the straitjacket of Carverian restrictions. There is even a stream-of-consciousness experiment in ‘Reeks’, after the style of Jack Kerouac, after the style of Marcel Proust! Yes, really. Although Campbell sees himself as a storyteller and not a social historian, these stories could stand as a record of our time as the work of Gaskell, Dickens, and Mayhew did to a previous century. If you want to understand our modern cities and modern work, let Neil Campbell be your guide.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Clegg\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On previous work) Neil Campbell’s \u003ccite\u003eZero Hours\u003c\/cite\u003e is a poetic, emotionally-charged reflection of what it means to live and work in the city today. Its Mancunian voice is so distinct it’s not like reading a novel at all but like having a conversation with modernity itself. \u003ccite\u003eZero Hours\u003c\/cite\u003e is sharp, funny and moving – a wonderful evocation of Manchester life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLee Rourke\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On previous work) Campbell’s narrator is a young working-class man from Manchester. Throughout the novel he works a number of zero hours jobs, first at a mail-sorting depot, later at a number of libraries. There is nearly always something to dishearten our man, be it his duties, colleagues, managers, or just the constant uncertainty that comes with this kind of employment. Besides work, the narrator has a number of unsuccessful attempts at relationships, and sees the face of his city change, losing its character to gentrification. There’s a stop-start feel to reading the novel itself: as with zero hours work, the present moment is all, and even the immediate future uncertain.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Hebblethwaite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDavid’s Book World\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On previous work) If he lived in Glasgow, Campbell would be feted as a son of Kelman and be at the forefront of an Albion Rovers style anthology.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Clegg\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eManchester Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On previous work) \u003ccite\u003eLicensed Premises\u003c\/cite\u003e, consists of fourteen stories, funny, dour, poignant and fabulous, often all at once.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePaul Lamont\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eOutsideleft\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Neil Campbell","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49243509358892,"sku":"9781784633332","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633332_0926268d-a7b7-43f2-93c7-506487dda675.jpg?v=1719321955"},{"product_id":"new-and-selected-poems-9781784633387","title":"New and Selected Poems","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew And Selected Poems\u003c\/em\u003e brings together a quarter of a century of exceptional writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJulian Stannard started his career as a writer in the Italian port city of Genoa. He has written at length about Liguria and Italy in general. His work has been translated into Italian and he finds his place in a rich Anglo-Ligurian tradition. This gathering of poems from many collections infuses his love of Italy with a clear-eyed view of modern Britain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are poems which can wrong foot and amaze. His satirical appetite draws on Rabelais, Gogol, Swift, and Lear. Stannard ultimately creates an unmistakable voice – the commonplace is made strange and yet even stranger still.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2010 Winner of the International Troubadour Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2024 – Awarded the Lerici Shelley Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘“You’re awake now.\/You’re at the end of the line” – there’s something end-of-days about Julian Stannard’s poems, but it’s a gleeful, sharp-toothed, epicurean form of oblivion towards which they rush, “extinguished – it would seem – by rapture”. These are poems of love, “naked, blissful, snookered” and death “the beginning of history\/or the end of history”. Stannard’s writing often occupies the red zone; of old wars, too many cigarettes and unlikely encounters with figures real and imagined from history, music and the screen. “The love microbe slips off its bathrobe” here – these are open, insouciant poems which relish and entertain, serving up a cocktail of literate enthusiasm and “Ligurian tumescence”. Fleet-footed, both sophisticated and bawdy, this New and Selected is a “knocking shop of our glorious epoch” and a reckoning-up of a singular, joyous and entirely original body of work.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDeclan Ryan\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘If Baudelaire wanted to put his finger on the pulse of contemporary poetry, he would find it in these poems. Brilliance on acid.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAstrid Alben\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Julian Stannard demonstrates better than anyone that “humour is a serious business”, that poetry is a space in which you have to earn the right to say absolutely anything you want, and boy, has Stannard cleared that space and earned that right. The ghost of Miles Davis becoming a Banyan tree, talking bulls, Priti Patel in a wicker basket followed by an eye disease called Priti-Patelitis, well-regulated dumplings, Bruno the rabbit-catcher – anything can stray into the frame of poem, and usually does. These poems are a fully-realised world.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMatthew Caley\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Julian Stannard sketches the paradoxes of life at home and abroad. His poems have the rare quality of taking us by surprise while simultaneously delighting us. Once discovered, we can't wait to share them with friends.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMassimo Bacigalupo, Professor Emeritus, University of Genoa\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This collection is perfect for readers who enjoy poetry that mixes vivid descriptions, cultural reflections, and a touch of humor. Even if you’re new to his work, this book is a great way to discover Stannard’s unmistakable voice.’ —\u003ccite\u003eWrite Through the Night\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Julian Stannard","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49243509784876,"sku":"9781784633387","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633387_50dc3e22-1e16-4ace-a5d9-e744d56b24cb.jpg?v=1719321960"},{"product_id":"i-hear-you-9781784633448","title":"I Hear You","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSeries\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eName:\u003c\/strong\u003e Salt Modern Stories   \u003cstrong\u003eNumber:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for The Polari Prize 2026\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/polari2026.png?v=1791321361\" alt=\"Polari Prize\" style=\"width:160px; float: right;\" id=\"no-shadow\"\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIrish Times: Books to Look Out for in 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis collection of stories, written especially for BBC Radio 4, includes a ten-part sequence: ‘The Circus’, set around Cliftonville Circus, where five roads meet in North Belfast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s five minutes from the nationalist Troubles flashpoint of Ardoyne, where Paul grew up. It’s close to Holy Cross Girls’ School, where protests targeting primary school children drew international attention. The Circus is situated in the poorest part of Belfast – it is also the most divided.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. The Circus explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity. But this is 2024 and a fresh energy exists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther stories include ‘Tickles’, a story about a man visiting his mother in a dementia ward where he finds he is the one who had forgotten important things; ‘Cuckoo’, about a man’s collapse and surgery – where he feels something more sinister has happened to him; and ‘Daddy Christmas’, where a gay man writes a letter to the son he never had.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘These moving short stories are brave, honest, raw and funny, doing what fiction does best, showing us the lives of others and in so doing showing us ourselves. Wonderful.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKit de Waal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘From a son paring the bunions on his mother’s feet to a man’s soul getting sealed out of his body, and culminating in a deft interlinked cycle, the stories of \u003ccite\u003eI Hear You\u003c\/cite\u003e are warm, frank and unsentimental, bursting with character and idiosyncratic detail, written with Paul McVeigh’s characteristic geniality and Belfast wit.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLucy Caldwell\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Each story is told from the point of view of a different character and they vary in age, sex and sexuality, from schoolgirls to drag queens, cleaners to abused wives and even a character peaking in English as their second language. McVeigh differentiates his characters with ease and skill, using language, style and structure to make each voice individual, distinctive and ultimately believable.’ —\u003ccite\u003e746 Books\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘McVeigh has an enviable ability to create an immediately recognisable character from a quick glance and drawing out the relationships of disparate characters from the common situations that has shaped them. While each individual story can seem like a sketch, there is an overarching plot as the events of the talent competition unravel some relationships and force others into the open. Linking the stories further, there is the common theme: the ability to create one’s own family out of friendship when their own families let them down. No-one will close I Hear You without the life-affirming feeling that there are possibilities in every life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJames Doyle\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Paul McVeigh’s writing has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to working-class and queer representation, and this sustained energy flows through this collection, to illuminating effect – for this is a world of change, of openness, of the drunkenness of things being various.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNeil Hegarty\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The collection includes a series of ten interlinked stories called ‘The Circus’ which introduce a colourful selection of characters from the north Belfast streets, whose varied lives intersect thanks to a local talent competition. Their stories are told with McVeigh’s trademark warmth, wit and humour.’ —\u003ccite\u003eRTÉ Arena\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘How moving and stunning that story is. It's so raw and incredibly human.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJess Richards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Funny, moving, poignant. Brilliant.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMetro\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A pearl of quality … highly original … haunting … superior.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A highly commendable debut, convincing in its realism.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLesley McDowell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘His depiction of the time and place – collecting for the black babies, roller discos up the Falls – and the peculiarities of NI vernacular – gazing at girls’ diddies, hoping for a lumber – is transportingly vivid. The effect is often very funny and then touching; the injustice of a line spent half in fear, the pleasure of a life lived half in laughter.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Graham\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Big Issue\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The summer holidays are a time of dread for Mickey Donnelly. Secondary education is looming, but the prohibitive cost of the grammar school uniform has deprived him of his best chance to escape from Belfast’s turbulent Ardoyne neighbourhood. This isn’t the only cloud hanging over the delightful narrator of Paul McVeigh’s debut novel, however: \u003ccite\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/cite\u003e’s early-80s backdrop is one of poverty, paranoia and violence, both sectarian and domestic, a terrifying world for a boy whose best friend is his little sister and whose favourite film is \u003ccite\u003eThe Wizard of Oz.\u003c\/cite\u003e’ —\u003cstrong\u003eVictoria Segal\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paul McVeigh","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49402530857260,"sku":"9781784633448","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633448polari.jpg?v=1791321390"},{"product_id":"a-full-on-basso-profundo-9781784633356","title":"A Full-On Basso Profundo","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKen Evans’s collection is structured in three inter-locking and overlapping sequences: Family; Masculinity; and America. Subjects range from the personal sacrifice and meaning of an organ donation; the loss of a child in still-birth; the death of a friend through drink, as well as bigger themes of our constant wars and forebodings of climate collapse. But these poems also experience hope, humour and optimism shining through – and often co-existing with the darker themes, thus poems on the small vagaries and mishaps of our digital lives, of the money-anxieties of car maintenance, or of negotiating airport security with a replacement hip.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Evans has always been the keenest observer of the private self, the historical person, and all the versions in between. He writes the family with an unrivalled, gimlet-eyed affection; a wicked sense of humour and a deeper sense of compassion. In his new collection time seems to pass in two directions, through vivid memory and an inexplicable future, quantumly entangled. What we have, what we have always had, is each other, and all the complications that entails. His speakers have an encyclopaedic curiosity and wit, but the more we understand the more a definitive interpretation seems to recede like a false horizon. We’re supremely lucky to have a poet like him.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLuke Kennard\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘In a century where ‘memes float around like so much space debris’, Ken Evans’s latest collection quests for a different kind of intimacy, to go back to ‘what we know, at the sub-atomic level’. Whether unfolding childhood memories or scouring the corners of Travelodge rooms and pharmacy shelves, the energetic phrasing here enlivens every observation as we orbit ‘a sun raised by possibilities’.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJohn McCullough\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Ken Evans’ new collection contains poems in a ten year-olds’ voice about becoming a ‘man’, for all that means to a little boy, \u003cem\u003e‘I’m ten, a pea on my fork, in after her to morning blood in our toilet’\u003c\/em\u003e, to the grown persona of a man in a world of expensive ‘lederhosen’, an elegy for the lonely death above a pub of a friend, and about the desire to protect family and loved ones’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvans wonders \u003cem\u003e‘how the baffling distance men need in love, enters a boy.’\u003c\/em\u003e This book sings about vulnerability, illness, shame, grief, the broken down. 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The Oikosphere – from oikos – family, household (Greek); The Anersphere – from aner – male (Greek); and Americanicity, a pleasing word I’d not heard before, noted as ‘an uncommon noun’ …\u003cem\u003eA Full-On Basso Profundo\u003c\/em\u003e is a deeply-felt collection for right now. Ken Evans challenges, with craft and musicality, the state we’re in. A necessary book.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJean Atkin\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eLondon Grip\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Evans brings curiosity, wit and energy to his work. 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At the end of “Drowning in Hunny”, the narrator describes a look between two people as “not quite contemptuous, or kindly, but . . . something else altogether, that hung tantalisingly in the air between them, like the scent of the cooking oil”. It goes some way to capture what I felt as a reader. Leaving \u003ccite\u003ePoppyland\u003c\/cite\u003e, I was left with a curious aftertaste, of something rather sad and unknowable, but also moreish and nourishing — something remorselessly real.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMatthew Janney\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eFT\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘However varied (and variable) it may be in style, the book is a consistent source of mystery. Each story builds to \"some gathering crisis\" after which nothing can be the same again, whether that's a starched academic bursting into tears or a war games vendor rearranging his stock … Nor are the outcomes of \u003ccite\u003ePoppyland\u003c\/cite\u003e ever explicitly stated: we see these codes shatter under the tiniest deviation – from habit, from opinion, from behaviour – but are left to imagine how the pieces are picked up.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHarry Cochrane\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Tablet\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Like much of Taylor’s fiction, most of the stories are set in his native Norfolk, which is rendered with picturesque lyricism: shimmering fields of poppies, crates of apples knocked over market pavements, the late-night glare of Norwich’s Prince of Wales Road. 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The collection follows his 2022 book \u003ccite\u003eStewkey Blues\u003c\/cite\u003e, which was inspired by his travels around Norfolk delivering food parcels during lockdown.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRobbie Bennett\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eNorwich Evening News\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Norfolk life looks quietly bleak in these carefully worked short stories of broken homes, precarious employment, dwindling expectations and torpor.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGeorge Cochrane\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Norwich is the geographical setting for most of the stories in this wry, wistful, astutely observed collection, but its real territory is that liminal space where hopes and dreams are dashed against the disappointing realities of the present.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A beautiful book. 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Eliza, Francis and Edmund will haunt me for some time.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eElizabeth Lee, author of Cunning Women\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An immersive and luminous debut; I was swept away by Butler's exquisite storytelling and the complexities of Eliza Litton, at once defiant and vulnerable, sensitive and fierce.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eElizabeth O’Connor, author of Whale Fall\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Poignant and insightful both in its understanding of the human soul and its examination of love in its different forms – it’s a book that challenged me, made me think and stayed with me, in all the best possible ways.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNicola Cornick, author of The Secrets of the Rose\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An elegant debut: Butler writes skillfully about the complexities of love and its many guises.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarvat Hasin, author of The Giant Dark\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Set in Elizabethan times, Eliza is madly in love with Francis, a labourer on her father's farm, who has always offered her comfort from her father's violence. Just before they can elope, Francis disappears and her father, eager to move up in the world, forces Eliza to marry Edmund, a gentleman. She's devastated, but in time settles into her grand home with her gentle husband who encourages her to pursue her love of painting. As Eliza begins to fall for her husband, she uncovers a dark secret that makes her question her past and fight for the future she deserves. Beautifully written with well-drawn characters, this emotive story of love and betrayal in an unforgiving era, eloquently captures a sense of time and place.’ —\u003ccite\u003eCandis Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘In 1570s Worcestershire, Eliza Lytton has a violent father who is planning her future with no concern for her wishes. She loves Francis, the companion of her childhood, although he is a labourer deemed unworthy of her. The couple intend to elope, but fate and her father prevent this. 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Sixteen years since an infamous tiger-lynx hybrid escaped a small moorland zoo and ate someone. Sixteen years since the animal was euthanised. Sixteen years for the zoo to fall into disrepair.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen sixteen-year-old convalescent Lowdy, and her Mumma, are forced to move to the remote old zoo to care for her dying grandmother, and rumours of the animal stalking the moors resurface. Vengeful locals blame the three women for the predator on the loose. Mumma insists all the cats are dead. Grandma whispers that the ‘tynx’ needs to be fed. Lowdy, still recovering from her own mysterious illness, begins to wonder who she can trust. Can she even trust herself when she wakes up covered in ticks with no recollection of the night before?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Lowdy searches for the truth – the truth of her childhood, what it means to be a woman, and the truth about the cats – she realises something feral runs in the blood, something she cannot ignore.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMuch more than simply the wry horror of a young woman’s beastly metamorphosis, \u003ccite\u003eThe Cat Bride\u003c\/cite\u003e views the eerie liminality of teenaged girls through a pastoral gothic fug of lairy nineties lads, booze and fags.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Cat Bride\u003c\/cite\u003e is as lushly hallucinatory as it is fierce. Shirley-Jackson-esque in tone, black humour, and spirit, I was mesmerised from page one.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePaul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This book is a raw, gorgeous and deeply strange delight. It lures you into its shadowy, slippery world and doesn’t let go. Rich with visceral beauty and dreamy oddness, Lowdy’s story – if you choose to believe it – is smart, knowing and wildly compelling.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHazel Barkworth, author of Heatstroke and The Drownings\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Cat Bride\u003c\/cite\u003e perches between the unearthly realm of fairytale and the feral tumult of adolescence; wielding both with absolute assurance to tell a devastating story. I was captivated from page one.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMatt Wesolowski, author of Six Stories\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A Gothic fever dream of inheritance and transformation, where madness and strength are two sides of the same genealogy, and a girl’s coming of age might mean becoming something else entirely.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLivia Franchini, author of Shelf Life\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The conceit of this book in its entirety is ingenious, and the fact that Tierney manages it, and in high style I can only take my hat off to … lush and hallucinatory … but not so lush it impedes the story, and not so hallucinatory where you don’t have a claw in the earth.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJeff Ford\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Cat Bride\u003c\/cite\u003e is not just a horror novel but a provocative meditation on identity and inherited violence. Tierney’s ability to balance grotesque imagery with poetic introspection makes this a standout debut. While its pacing may test some, the payoff is a story that will invoke pure cat scratch fever dreams for your subconscious to mull over for days.’ —\u003ccite\u003eGingernuts of Horror\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe best new debut novels\u003c\/strong\u003e Vivid imagery and wildly imaginative storytelling.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSuzi Feay\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A stunningly evocative, beautifully written gothic novel drawing on myths and fairytales in a devastating depiction of psychological and visceral horrors.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLisa Tuttle\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The “Cat Bride” is a character in a fairy tale beloved by 16-year old Loveday, in which a man falls in loves with a cat whose been magically transformed into a woman. Loveday herself is on the brink of a transformation, thought what she’s becoming is open to interpretation.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Dobbs\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eSFX\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I loved the jarring tonal shifts as Lowdy moved between mental states, confusion and clarity, the way reality is brought in between bouts of delusions to give the reader an insight into past events as they colour recent actions.’ —\u003ccite\u003eEverything Is Better With Dragons\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘It’s difficult to know with Charlotte Tierney’s \u003ccite\u003eThe Cat Bride\u003c\/cite\u003e whether the narrator is unreliable, or whether her mother and grandmother are … Mumma and Grandma tell radically different versions of the past … Is everything the folklore-fuelled delusions of a highly intelligent but disturbed teenage girl … ? 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The back to front narrative is divided into three sections, End, Middle and Beginning. Poems explore the effect of grief and ageing and the ability of these two to alter the past as well as the present. The title comes from a Buddhist meditation referring to the non-linear nature of time as well as its gift.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first section End contains award-winning elegies for a mother who died on a locked-down ward during the pandemic and a grandfather who escaped from Nazi-occupied Lwów (then in Poland, now the Ukraine). There is also a Ledbury-winning poem describing a Jerry Lee Lewis- loving father’s visit to A\u0026amp;E. The second section Middle negotiates the shifting ground of middle age exploring women’s bodies, work, therapy and the consolations of love and spirituality in poems featuring amusement arcades, train derailments and Allen Jones’ controversial women as furniture sculptures. Beginning revisits youthful sex, running away from home and Happy Shopper before embracing middle aged sex and then returning in a (never) ending to the mother.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘As brave, as bravura, a performance as the ill-advised, little-known acts it celebrates, this is both a lament and a defiant affirmation of an individual’s life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePhillip Gross\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A stark and timely reminder of how there is always some level of choice when it comes to traditions and symbols, and the significant role this choice has in harming or healing our collective and individual relationships with the past.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRoseanne Watt\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Life has its bumpy sections but all turns out well. In ‘Home\/Time’, the final poem, her son is five, her mother is welcoming them in, her feistiness intact, and Peppa Pig is ‘stamping her boots \/ on the duvet.’ Everything happens simultaneously, riotously. This collection, packed with life, is gloriously readable.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDA Prince\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eOrbis\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Rooted in the North East, Anna Woodford is a poet whose work navigates deep themes like intimacy, identity, motherhood, grief and even fire safety. A s a non-linear writer, she draws on lived experience and emotional nuance. Beyond her poetry, Woodford’s active role in the local literary community makes her a vital and inspirational creative force in the region. This autumn, her mid-life coming of age take, \u003ccite\u003eEverything is Present\u003c\/cite\u003e, is sitting on our bedside table.’ —\u003ccite\u003eLuxe Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘These poems are not still. They teem with life, storytelling and detail, compelling, busy and alive.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Alchemy Spoon\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Anna Woodford’s originality here lies in her aptitude... relentlessly to see the “Bright Side” … Who wants poets to suffer when they can write so well and be happy?’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGuy Russell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTears in the Fence\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘“How much dark one candle\/can leave” writes Anna Woodford at the passing of her grandmother. It’s a dark that will accompany, will see her through. There’s a level-headed love here that, like life itself, is strong enough to carry the equipages of wit and brilliance in her poetry.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGillian Allnutt\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Here is a poet that loves language – as a toy, a tool, a weapon.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJacqueline Gabbitas (review of Party Piece)\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003ePoetry Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Anna Woodford is a rarity: a youngish poet with considerable talent, something to say, and a voice unique as a fingerprint ... Woodford’s poems can give their readers new eyes.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRory Waterman\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eSphinx\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Anna Woodford is not afraid to move around the page. Most poets cling to the left-hand margin as a starting point for each poem but Woodford know the value of space. It’s possible to make an impact with just a few words if you know what you are doing and these poems do just that.’ —\u003ccite\u003eAmbit\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Anna Woodford","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49678676033836,"sku":"9781784633509","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633509_d90e1c94-83e5-4c52-9f9d-eb647a123238.jpg?v=1724608989"},{"product_id":"from-the-castle-to-the-hovel-9781784633516","title":"From the Castle to the Hove-l","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eFrom The Castle to the Hove-l\u003c\/cite\u003e brings together a selection of Nicholas Lezard’s much-admired long-running column for the \u003ccite\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/cite\u003e, written between 2017 and 2021. Charting his expulsion from London, an interlude in Scotland, and eventual resettlement in Brighton, these pieces capture with wit and candour the upheavals and absurdities of a peripatetic life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than a retrospective, this volume includes new material that reflects on and expands the original columns, offering fresh insights, context, and the occasional morsel of literary gossip. In Lezard’s inimitable style, it becomes less an anthology than a director’s cut – sharp, revealing, and irresistibly entertaining.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘For me, happiness occurs in glimmers: being with my son in the sea for an hour; watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine with my daughter; a hug after a marital sulk; writing a good scene; Thom Yorke performing “Suspirium”; a victory for Liverpool FC; a Nicholas Lezard column …’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Mitchell\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I don’t think Nicholas Lezard has ever written a bad sentence. Indeed, the majority of his tend to be the funniest and most elegantly written ones you’ll have read all year. This is astonishing, since they’re usually about debt, cramped accommodation and the increasing cost of wine. That Lezard can turn these into a joyous, stylish and moving riposte to whatever life throws at him and leave you feeling better about the world and your fellow humanity is little short of a miracle. Bless him, for his writing is that good!’ —\u003cstrong\u003eArmando Iannucci\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Razor-sharp in observation and richly comic in incident.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRupert Christiansen\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Oldie\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Lezard is a magnet for misfortune — his finances, love life and domestic skills are equally disaster-prone, and he shares his book-infested lodgings with a variety of uninvited wildlife. Rueful and funny, this is a book to relish in the comfort of a tidy living room.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Shilling\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Lezard unashamedly takes his cue from Orwell’s essay “Confessions of a Book Reviewer” with its comfortless picture of an ill-paid hack in the mid-1940s, scratching a living “in a moth-eaten dressing gown” surrounded by “cigarette ends and half-empty cups of tea”. Regular readers will be used to dispatches from the Hovel, and encounters with the Beloved, and the Estranged Wife (one hopes that they are sufficiently anonymized). They will also know that Lezard frequently has “too much month at the end of his money”, plus the hypochondriac twinges that borderline poverty and a sedentary lifestyle inevitably lead to.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eBrian Morton\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This is a hugely entertaining book. 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By turn humorous and poignant, whimsical and provocative, they make for richly rewarding reading.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The tone and the mood of the stories are richly varied: at times, his writing verges on dark comedy; at others, it feels mythical and dramatic. I hope that people will enter into Arditti’s world — and I suspect that the lives and faces that linger for each reader will reflect the stories that resonate most deeply with our lives and stories. Part of the beauty of what Arditti does is to invite us to find our full self and our true meaning in the lives that he creates and opens up for us.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Lamey\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eChurch Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I think these are brilliant. They are a mix of the everyday and the remarkable – quite dark in places and really cleverly assembled.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePetroc Trelawny\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A serious and important novelist.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRose Tremain\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Arditti is a master storyteller.’ —\u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Arditti succeeds in creating fiction that is morally serious, moving and intense.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Anyone who is afraid that the English novel is sliding into a backwater of domestic anecdote should find their anxieties assuaged by the writing of Michael Arditti.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Thank God (maybe literally) for writers like Michael Arditti, whose invigorating novels dare to shake us out of our complacency.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks.  His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePatricia Duncker\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A writer of quite exceptional gifts.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTime Out\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Arditti writes exactly like Dickens.  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The poems range from the absurd, to the historical, the comic and fantastical – dropping us into stories and places we never quite expect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe collection considers where and how we live: in the city, in the country, on the coast, or elsewhere – and the strange lives we endure in often disparate communities, connected to each other through history and nature, and sometimes separated by it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs with Emery’s previous work, the poems reveal the intimate and fleeting in human experience, and can delve into the mundane, reverie or dreamscape, each lyric serving to illustrate the joy of common experience, all expressed in musical and arresting language that never avoids the freight of emotion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Chris Emery has an enviable gift, to be able to pack a novel’s worth of action into a few lines, and direct our eye to the moment that matters, the image that impresses, the memory that resonates. These are poems full of quiet, well, wonder.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRishi Dastidar\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘“Wonder”: a word that might imply wide, wet eyes and puddle-weak poems, two things any reader familiar with Emery’s work will know not to expect. Indeed, there is none of that in this collection of tight, vivid, musical poems. The word is used in the opener: “darkness close to wonder”, a phrase that could serve equally well as a title for this multifarious volume, in which any and every subject seems ripe for plucking, and there are no low-hanging fruit or simple flavours.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRory Waterman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A fine collection. Smaller poems scattered throughout it such as ‘Truer’ and ‘How Small We Were’ reveal a genuine individual tone – mordant, searching, surprising the reader – and a poet capable of creating unpredictable, freshly-coined images that stay with one after the book has been put down. It takes guts to name a poetry collection \u003ccite\u003eWonder\u003c\/cite\u003e, but Emery lives up to it in many of the poems included here.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eM. C. Caseley\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eStride Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The collection’s overall strength lies in Emery’s ability to weave together vivid imagery with profound reflections, creating a tapestry of emotions and intellectual engagement. Each passage acts as a mini meditation, prompting us to pause and consider our perceptions and assumptions about the world and life around us.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGeorge L Thomas\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Although coming across as deeply personal, the reader is drawn in to enjoy a sensuous feast of observation and yearning. Allow time to savour, to taste again and uncover further flavours. These poems contain layers and pleasing depth. Nature features but not necessarily as a thing of beauty. Landscapes are bleak where life has featured hardship. There is railing against the inevitable end, alongside acceptance. Love is remembered without being named.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJackie Law\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eneverimitate\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘As the title of this book of poems suggests, Wonder is about all things in life that inspire awe, admiration and the unexpected. But the most unexpected thing is that the poems are not all sunny views on the beauty of nature but also about regret, the passing of time, history and the lived experience. The scope is vast. … Moody, evocative and emphatic, this is a wonderful collection.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eA. J. Sefton\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A thought-provoking, lyrical examination of wonder whose lines will stay with you long after the moment is done.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAmanda Loose\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eNorth Norfolk Living\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eWonder\u003c\/cite\u003e is as multifaceted a collection as it is a concept – amusing and baffling; banal and awe-inspiring; shallow as chit-chat and deep as philosophy.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMike Farren\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe High Window\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003e2025 Reading Recommendations\u003c\/strong\u003e If you've ever wondered about wonder, then Wonder by Chris Emery is a must-read. With a forensic eye and musical sensibility, Emery explores how we live and how we respond to the moments that matter.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTim Relf\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Poetry Society\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Emery’s powerful voice seeks to engage, not with an urgency but it presses us to look, to hear. Always it seems, transmitting the shared commonality of our lives, sometimes tragic, but often literally, full of wonder.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eElaine Randell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTears in the Fence\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The way Emery reflects on the nature of reality and plurality reminds me of Louis MacNeice.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePauline Rowe\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eOrbis\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chris Emery","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55367140606331,"sku":"9781784633707","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633707_2a656cf2-60d7-4976-b9f3-76b708e7ee74.jpg?v=1745449240"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/collections\/iStock-870456496.jpg?v=1794213076","url":"https:\/\/www.saltpublishing.com\/collections\/in-case-you-missed-it.oembed","provider":"Salt","version":"1.0","type":"link"}