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Jamie D. Stacey – ‘All the Waves, Calling’ – Worcester Launch

ATWC front cover

The Worcester launch of All the Waves, Calling will take place at 4pm Sunday 2 July at the Quaker Meeting House, 1 Sansome Walk, Worcester WR1 1UG. Doors will open at 3.45pm. The online link will appear here on the day and also on the events page.
 

Join us for the launch of All the Waves, Calling. This is the debut novel from Swansea writer Jamie D. Stacey. The novel reflects contemporary, accessible literary fiction and is aimed at adults, especially those drawn to atmospheric and life-affirming stories. It seeks to add to the discussion on men and mental health today, in particular men’s ofttimes struggle with opening up about grief and isolation.

 

‘Men don’t talk, especially about grief. But they should—before it’s too late.’

 

‘Corey’s…journey blends the real world of his past with the ethereal backdrop of his troubled mind. The result is a young man who may have died, is certainly broken and definitely cannot come to terms with the tragedy until he understands what the tragedy is’ —Jackie Buxton, author and editor

 

May 17th, 6-7.30pm saw the opening event for this novel about loss, resilience – and hope. It featured an exclusive author talk, Q & A, and book signing, along with some nightmarish cats, a scared bunny, and waves of everything in-between. The event was popular and well-attended.

Many of us know Jamie from his successes in writing flash fiction. His stories have been published in most Worcestershire LitFest Flash Fiction anthology for the past 12 years.

An avid reader of scratches on walls and scribbles in notebooks, Jamie D. Stacey is drawn to stories that empathise, encourage, and empower. He writes flash fiction, i.e., very short stories, and this, his debut novel, was published on 25 March 2023. Jamie says, ‘Whatever the form or shape of my writing, it’s the heart and hope inside each that matters.’

About the novel:

Men don’t talk, especially about grief. But they should—before it’s too late.

Grief throws Corey into a disordered world where nothing makes sense. His reality is fractured by dark stabs of mental pain that convert his life into an unfathomable maze. He doesn’t know forward from backward, where normality has gone, or how to get it back.

In despair, he buys a one-way ticket on the ‘Train to Nowhere’. It derails on a dark, isolated beach in the Highlands, where he befriends the only other known survivor, Skye. Sheltering in a ghost town, they embark on a strange journey to find answers: how did the train crash, what is this place, and, most worryingly, who is Skye?

Order ‘All the Waves, Calling’ for UK delivery here:

£10 +P&P

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You can find out more about Jamie D. Stacey on his website

 

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D. D. Holland Launches Two Books!

D. D. Holland won the University of Worcester Black Pear Press Prize for Fiction 2022 and made it a double whammy by winning the University of Worcester V.Press Poetry Prize 2022. Trudi (D.D.Holland) launched both her series of stories ‘The Lady Doth Protest’ and her poetry ‘Braised in Wine’ at The Hive in May 2023.

‘Packed full of iconic female figures, Holland fashions revised mouthpieces from them all to craft stories that are at once humorous, tender and impactful.’ Dr Charley Barnes, novelist, poet, and lecturer in Creative & Professional Writing, University of Wolverhampton

‘…a true testament to Holland’s talents as a writer and a critical researcher. The Lady Doth Protest is genuinely, uproariously, laugh-out-loud funny at times and a delight to read.’ Dr Jack McGowan, poet, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Head of the Department of English, Media & Culture, University of Worcester

The Lady Doth Protest - front cover

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Braised in Wine

Available from V.Press

Rhianna Levi – ‘Life’s Wonders’

We’re delighted to announce the online launch of ‘Life’s Wonders’ a project by Worcestershire Poet Laureate Rhianna Levi that has led to a poetry anthology with poems from over sixty poets. The launch takes place on Sunday 30 April and starts at 4pm, you’re welcome to join up to ten minutes in advance to settle in and await the start. Here is the link:

Topic: ‘Life’s Wonders’ Launch Meeting
Time: Apr 30, 2023 04:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85963300527

Meeting ID: 859 6330 0527
Passcode: 580387

it’s also shown on the events page, click here.

Life's Wonders - front cover

Rhianna Levi says:

‘For every copy sold of this anthology, a donation will be made to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity who in turn will invest it into Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.  They will do this by providing enhancements, additions and added extras which link closely with the strategic aims of the Trust, which can make the working day easier, the service more comfortable or improve the experience for patients, staff and visitors.

A fitting tribute in alignment with the NHS turning 75 years old in 2023.’

Rhianna feels a special closeness with the charity as they cared for her father in his last days.

Order a copy of the anthology here::

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£8 +P&P

Should you want more than one copy, please get in touch so that we can adjust the P&P

UK delivery only

Brian Comber and Ade Couper – a shared poetry book launch

Poets Brian Comber and former Worcestershire Poet Laureate Ade Couper launched their poetry collections at The Quaker Meeting House in Worcester in April 2023.

This is former Worcestershire Poet Laureate Ade Couper’s debut collection and is entitled ‘Made of Stories’, with thanks to Worcestershire LitFest.

Brian Comber’s new collection ‘A Caparisoned Elephant’ follows his success with his poetry collection, ‘Panopticon’.

A Caparisoned Elephant front cover

Order ‘A Caparisoned Elephant’ for UK delivery here:

£7 +P&P

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Made of Stories - front cover KDP

Order ‘Made of Stories’ for UK delivery here:

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Leena Batchelor launches ‘Space and Shadows’

Leena Batchelor launched her coffee table book ‘Space and Shadows’, with photographs of The Commandery, and poems written when Leena was their Poet in Residence, on Sunday 5 March, 2023 to an appreciative online and ‘live’ audience.

Space and Shadows - front cover

£15 +P&P Order your copy from BPP

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Leena says, ‘Every building has its sacred space, that place where ghosts push back and senses heighten, become awake and aware. For me, in this wonderment of a city I call home, I have been fortunate enough to find two such spaces—the Norman crypt in the Cathedral, and The Commandery, in particular the Painted Chamber.’

39 Contentious Friend
‘Contentious Friend’ shows Leena Batchelor’s photo of a wall in the Painted Chamber. This is a rare example of a medieval painting depicting the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury (c.1170). The poem below is an ekphrastic representation by Leena of the painting.

Screenshot 2023-02-15 at 00.35.44

Peter Sutton – ‘A Colourful Age’

Peter Sutton’s latest collection ‘A Colourful Age’ was launched to much acclaim in Malvern, March 2023.
‘A Colourful Age’ is arranged in four sections: ‘Colour Vision’, which splits the world into the colours of the rainbow, ‘Belief’, which reflects on how we try in our small ways to make sense of existence, ‘Family’, which is topped and tailed by poems written for Peter’s two granddaughters, and ‘Old Age’, which draws on Peter’s experiences. An awareness of colours persists throughout.

“These honest, generous and wonderfully diverse poems will touch many readers.” Tina Cole, winner of the Yaffle Poetry Competition, 2020

A Colourful Age - front cover

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Yellow

Brimstone yellow, belly yellow, skin yellow, plum yellow.
Sunny yellow, sickly yellow, streak of yellow, Case Yellow.
Autumn yellow, turning yellow, mellow yellow, saffron yellow.
Yellow is craven, yellow is shallow.
Yellow is sunshine, yellow is hallow.

A Colourful Age (Black Pear Press, 2023)

Peter Sutton

Peter Sutton

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