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This new anthology exploresall aspects of ageing, from losing parents to confronting the inevitability of ourown deaths. Here are poets facing up to life, with a recognition of its transience,absurdities, triumphs and disasters, in the spirit of taking it on the chin.

 

Cracking On

Poems about ageing by older women

Edited by Joy Howard

Foreword by Michele Hanson

‘Electric, formidable, challenging, witty, sombre, enduring, heart-felt, tender, reflective, valedictory poems. This is an anthology to see you through the bad times, to celebrate the good times.  Be these poets stricken with grief or still dizzy with love after all these years, they remain sharp-eyed, sharp-witted, gutsy and dauntless in their many different approaches.’  Penelope Shuttle

‘Brave, thoughtful, humorous…the poems in this book explore with honesty and clear-sightedness the gains and losses – and the surprises – inherent in the process of ageing.’ Carole Satyamurti

‘This fine anthology has given women permission to say exactly what they feel about every aspect of the whole business of ageing. These poets aren’t fools: they know what they’re talking about, and they tell it straight. They have the courage to face the hard things; they have the grace and skill to write without self-pity and yet with the true voice of feeling. It is seriously good poetry: fresh, and well-crafted. It’s the fruit of accumulated wisdom and of long life-experience - brave writing, full of love and subversive wit and lyricism. You can trust such poems.’   R V Bailey

Available now from Grey Hen @ £10.00 + p&p £1.50
 

Ten  years in the life of a lesbian-come-lately. Excitement, bewilderment,  heartache, frustration, love both true and false, but above all a feeling of  coming home…

Exit Moonshine

 Coming out and carrying on

 ISBN 978-0-9552952-0-l

‘It was a frightening and fabulous time, coming out in the feminist 1980s; falling in love, writing poetry... you had to have been there.  However, if you’ve only read about it or done it in your Women’s Studies class, then this wonderful collection is the next best thing.  All the pleasure - well, almost! - and none of the pain.’ Berta Freistadt

‘In poetry which is wry and witty a whole brave life journey is explored.  Beginning with that mythical lesbian milestone ‘Coming Out’, the progress of love is treated to a beady-eyed scrutiny - although after the necessary scalpel comes an unsentimental but lyrical acceptance of ‘a dear concordance/and a priceless peace’.   Whatever your niche in the spectrum of the human condition, these poems will make you reflect and smile.’  Kate Foley

Available now from Grey Hen@ £6.50 + p&p £1.00

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A collection of work by 36 contemporary poets exploring the darker side of the female imagination. Here are poems that disturb and disconcert but also gleam with humour and delight in subversion.

You will find plenty of familiar names, but also less well-known poets whose work deserves to be read more widely. There is something good on every page - be prepared to hide behind the sofa and keep the light on at night but also to be made to think, and to laugh out loud. There will be something in this book that will hit the spot for everyone who enjoys the power of poetry.

A Twist of Malice

 Uncomfortable poems by older women

Edited by Joy Howard

ISBN 978-0-9552952-2-5

’Nothing mimsy about these poems by older women.  Fierce, funny, disturbing and fairly vicious. Lovely.’  Michele Hanson, The Guardian

’..extremely enjoyable and thought-proving...the essence of the achievement is in raising some really serious and interesting issues while being entertaining.  Beautifully produced too.’ 

’Poems which stretch the mind...poetic edge and edginess.’

’A handsome anthology...ought to be on some celebrity’s list of their Books of the Year...Put it on your Christmas list.’   

Dilys Wood, Second lLght Network & ARTEMISpoetry

 

’A Twist of Malice is a tonic, a real pick-me-up, in all senses. I laughed, cried, giggled, chortled. A book for all seasons, for all reasons. Dip in and out or read in huge gulps. So many poems I wish I had written myself.’ Lyn Moir

’Artifice and wit deliver moments so sharp they catch your breath: "Time Out" and "Down to the Wood" reach bone marrow.’ Hilary Elfick

’To be able to truly revel in mischief, malice and misery with no guilt attached is a rare and wonderful thing. A Twist of Malice recognizes this fully, meets it head on and, while it shouts from rooftops, can laugh. And cry, and sometimes whisper. These poets lay rightful claim to their intellects, aesthetics and senses of humour; in short, to the art in their lives.’Jacqueline Gabbitas

Available now from Grey Hen @ £8.00 + £1.25 p&p

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A pamphlet from West Yorkshire poets Joy Howard, Hilary J Murray and Gina Shaw. The poets are all members of Second Light, a national network of older women poets. They have been meeting together since May 2006 to share everything to do with writing and performing poetry. The pamphlet was conceived as a compilation of some of the poems that feature in their readings.

Second Bite ISBN 978-0-9552952-1-8

Off-beat but serious and moving "Funny, feisty"

"Catches hold of a new way of voicing feelings"

"In tune with the wry wit of contemporary poetry and with feminism"

Dilys Wood, ARTEMISpoetry

Available now from Grey Hen @ £3.00 + 50p p&p

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 A month-by-month collection featuring poets for whom a connection with the Brontë family, the Parsonage and Haworth has special meaning.   

A Source Of Strange Delight 

     Poem about the Brontes

       
          CALENDER 2011 

     


A Grey Hen Press Limited Edition Publication compiled by Joy Howard
    

Available now from Grey Hen @ £5 +£1 p&p  

 
       

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