Two Ravens

What are the most important things for us – that identify us, that make us human? Is it down to physiology? How big a part is played by our personal history, the place we live, the people we relate to, the beliefs we hold? What might be the influence of those who have come before us, and by what means do we remember those forebears, both near and far off? How deeply are we connected to the landscape? And if we lose the power to think, to remember, do we also lose our identity? More questions than answers, but here contemporary poets take a close look at these issues, throwing fresh light on the intriguing and complex ways our minds and memories work to make us who we are.

Edited by Joy Howard

 

ISBN: 978-1-9196455-3-7

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press.   

Retail price £14 + £2.00  p&p   Booksellers discount available.

Jane Aldous Sheila Aldous Chloë Balcomb Sarah Barr Jill Boucher Denise Bennett Sara Boyes Christina Buckton Maggie Butt Caroline Carver Alison Chisholm A C Clarke Gillian Clarke Chris Considine Rose Cook Jennifer Copley Pamela Coren Doris Corti Eithne Cullen Sue Davies Kate Davies Kerry Darbishire Kelly Davis Julia Deakin Lorna Dexter Imtiaz Dharker Rosemary Doman Barbara Dordi Ann Drysdale Claire Dyer Hilary Elfick Victoria Field Mary Dingee Fillmore Elsa Fischer Kate Foley Annie Foster Angela France Judy Gahagan Katherine Gallagher Rebecca Gethin Lorna Goodison	June Hall Jenny Hamlett Susanna Harding Maggie Harris Anne Hay Jo Haslam Diana Hendry Hilaire Doreen Hinchliffe Joy Howard Diane Jackman Angela Kirby Maria Jastrzębska Kathleeen Jones Marianne Jones Susan Jordan Jenny King Pauline Kirk Jane Kite Angela Kirby Wendy Klein Stevie Krayer Gill Learner Janet Loverseed Mandy Macdonald Fokkina McDonnell Jennifer A McGowan Elspeth McLean Sarah Mcleod Liz McPherson Kathleen McPhilemy Joan Micelson Jenny Morris Tina Negus Grace Nichols Jean O’Brien Christine O’Neill Jeri Onitskansky Liz Parkes Jo Peters M R Peacocke	Ilse Pedler Melanie Penycate Jo Peters Ellen Phethean Katrina Porteous Sue Proffitt Sheenagh Pugh Chris Raetschus Anne Ryland Marka Rifat Mery Robinson Jane Routh Marina Sánchez Verity Schanche Biljana Scott Penelope Shuttle Pat Simmons Mary Anne Smith Sellen A E Stallings Anne Stewart Tessa Strickland Hilary Stobbs Janet Sutherland Judi Sutherland Pat Sutherland Susan Székely Susan Taylor Frances Corkey Thompson Katharine Towers Susan Utting Eleanor J Vale Fiona Ritchie Walker Josie Walsh Andrea Ward Merryn Williams Heidi Williamson Jackie Wills Margaret Wilmot Pauline Yarwood
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Renewable Energy

Celebrating the inspirational life force that plants bring to our own struggle for survival on this imperilled planet.

 
 
 
 

Edited by Joy Howard

 

ISBN: 978-1-9196455-1-3

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press.   

Retail price £5 + £1.00  p&p   (£3.50  Europe  £4.50 US and worldwide).   Booksellers discount available.

NB  A donation of 50p from the sale of each book will go to The Langholm Initiative’s Tarras Valley Nature Reserve.

Christina Buckton Rose Cook Hilary Elfick Diana Hendry June Hall	Joy Howard Annette Iles Angela Kirby Jennifer A McGowan Jennie Osborne	Jo Peters Jane Routh HilaryTattershall
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Phenomenal Women

More poems that keep us in mind of women who have left their mark on the world and hold a place in our hearts.

 
 
 
 

Edited by Joy Howard

 

ISBN: 978-1-8381979-3-3

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press.   

Retail price £6 + £1.00  p&p   (£3.50  Europe  £4.50 US and worldwide).   Booksellers discount available.

NB  A donation of 50p from the sale of each book will be made to Womankind Worldwide.

Sheila Aldous Penny Ayers Chloë Balcomb Alison Brackenbury Alison Campbell Debjani Chatterjee A C Clarke Louise Cook Sue Davies Julia Deakin Barbara Dordi Rosemary Doman Caroline Gilfillan Doreen Hinchliffe	Joy Howard Rosie Jackson Pauline Kirk Wendy Klein Stevie Krayer Gill Learner Jennifer Liston Jennifer A McGowan Liz McPherson Alwyn Marriage Frances Nagle Eveline Pye Marka Rifat Verity Schanche	Andrea Small Mary Anne Smith Sellen Tessa Strickland Hilary Tattershall Susan Utting Josie Walsh Toni Wilde Merryn Williams Jackie Wills Judith Wozniak Shirley Wright
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Earth Days Numbered	Counting Down the Days	Different Days
ISBN 978-1-8381979-5-7	ISBN 978-1-8381979-7-1	ISBN 978-1-8381979-9-5
Edited by Joy Howard	Edited by Joy Howard	Edited by Joy Howard
‘Planet Earth is calling for help. It is our home, and home to all living things, and we are destroying it. Here, older women poets show their support for the younger generation, who have inherited the results of our misuse and now have to face picking up responsibility for the survival of life on earth.’
‘We are facing times of unprecedented change on our planet. We have come close to destroying everything that sustains life, and must reverse that, and quickly. Here are poems that acknowledge the reality of what has been done, but offer hope for the future.’
Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press.
Retail price £4 + £1.00  p&p   (£3.50  Europe  £4.50 US and worldwide). Booksellers discount 40%.
All proceeds from the sales of these books will go to supporting the work of the UK Youth Climate Coalition

Earth Days Numbered Meg Barton Margaret Beston Gill Gregory Barbara Hickson Doreen Hinchliffe Joy Howard Nell Kenmir Mandy Macdonald Fokkina McDonnell Elspeth McLean Lindy Newns Ilse Pedler Katrina Porteous Eveline Pye Julie-ann Rowell Anne Stewart E J Vale Fiona R W Jean Watkins Shirley Wright	Counting Down the Days Mary Chuck A C Clarke Chris Considine Ann Drysdale E Hare Barbara Hickson Diane Jackman Gill Learner Mandy Macdonald Char March Jennie Osborne Liz Parkes Meg Peacocke Melanie Penycate Eveline Pye E Rowe Mary Anne Smith Sellen Janet Sutherland Susan Taylor Fiona R Walker	Different Days Jane Aldous Christina Buckton Maggie Butt Alison Chisholm Mary Chuck Rose Cook Kerry Darbishire Sue Davies Kelly Davis Rosemary Doman Kate Foley Annie Foster Angela France Pauline Kirk Cheryl Moskowitz Helena Nelson Katrina Porteous Marka Rifat Jane Routh Deborah Sloan
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Lovely, Dark and Deep

Poems about woods

Woods and forests are secret places, sacred places. They have been cherished as shelter and sanctuary, places to escape to from the pressures of everyday life. But they have also been feared as places of mystery, darkness and loss. Exploited for their resources or seen as expendable by human beings over many ages, they are now seen as saviours of humanity in the face of our man-made climate catastrophe.

Edited by Joy Howard

 

ISBN: 978-1-8381979-2-6

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press.   

Retail price £5 + £1.00  p&p   (£3.50  Europe  £4.50 US and worldwide).           Booksellers discount 40%.

NB  A donation of 50p from the sale of each book will be made to Rusland Horizons Trust Woodlands Project.

Penny Ayers Chloë Balcomb Elizabeth Birchall Sara Boyes Alison Campbell Caroline Carver Rose Cook Kelly Davis Kate Foley Cynthia Fuller Katherine Gallagher Rebecca Gethin	Cathy Grindrod Doreen Hinchliffe Wendy Holborow Joy Howard Maria Jastrᶒbska Wendy Klein Christine McNeill Alwyn Marriage Jane Monach Jenny Morris Helena Nelson Liz Parkes	Ilse Pedler Ellen Phethean Jenny Pritchard Elizabeth Rowe Hermione Sandall Myra Schneider Mary Ann Smith Sellen Anne Stewart Hilary Stobbs Hannah Stone Katharine Towers Jean Watkins
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Not Past, but Through

Poems about rivers

Constantly in motion, seen or unseen, rivers flow through all our lives. They are neighbours with whom we have shared a chequered history. We have enjoyed their beauty, taken our recreation on their banks, exploited their resources, polluted their waters. But rivers are not passive, and have flooded our homes, swamped our meadows and farmland, swept some of us to our deaths. They command both love and respect.

Edited by Joy Howard

 

ISBN: 978-1-8381979-1-9

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press

Retail price £5 + £1.00  p&p   (£3.50  Europe  £4.50 US and worldwide)           Booksellers discount 40%.

NB A donation of  50p from the sale of each book will be made to the Eden Rivers Trust

Sheila Aldous Moira Andrew Denise Bennett Alison Brackenbury A C Clarke Rose Cook Doris Corti Kerry Darbishire Katherine Gallagher Joan Gooding Geraldine Green Elizabeth Hare	Jo Haslam Joy Howard Annette Iles Diane Jackman Gill Learner Janet Loverseed Jane Monach Helena Nelson Jennie Osborne Ilse Pedler Katrina Porteous Julie-ann Rowell	Jennifer Russell Pat Simmons Verity Schanche Ruth Smith Martha Street Judi Sutherland Susan Taylor Katharine Towers Eleanor J Vale Fiona Ritchie Walker
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Of Some Importance

A Celebration

Poems that keep us in mind of women who have left their mark on the world and hold a place in our hearts.

Edited by Joy Howard

 

ISBN: 978-1-9996903-7-3

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press

Retail price £6 + £1.00  p&p   (£3.50  Europe  £4.50 US and worldwide)           Booksellers discount 40%.

NB  A donation of 50p from the sale of each book will be made to Womankind Worldwide

Jean Atkin Margaret Beston Sara Boyes Carole Bromley Debjani Chatterjee Alison Chisholm Kerry Darbishire Sue Davies Julia Deakin Barbara Dordi Elsa Fischer Katherine Gallagher Gabriel Griffin	Diana Hendry Barbara Hickson Gill Horitz Joy Howard Rosie Jackson Maria Jastrzᶒbska Pauline Kirk Wendy Klein Mandy Macdonald Lyn Moir Jenny Morris Frances Nagle Ilse Pedler	Melanie Penycate Jo Peters Pascale Petit Marka Rifat Julie-ann Rowell Jennifer Russell Hermione Sandall Penelope Shuttle Mary Anne Smith Deborah Sloan Susan Utting Eleanor J Vale Josie Walsh
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Reflected Light

Responses to the creative arts

 

Poets share their reactions to the creative art of others – painters, musicians, poets, sculptors, photographers and film makers, architects and more.

Edited by Joy Howard

‘This is one of the most satisfying anthologies I’ve read for years: strong and characteristically original. As one form of creative art responds to another, we have here poetry that attends to everything from environmental catastrophe to pottery designs, from world famous paintings to graffiti, and which includes artefacts, exhibitions and installations of all sorts. An absolute delight.’ R V Bailey

‘An inspirational anthology’ Pauline Stainer

‘A rich, exuberant collection of vivid poems which will delight and enchant the reader.’ Gabriel Griffin
ISBN: 978-1-9996903-6-6

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press

Retail price £10 + £1.50  p&p   (£3.50  Europe  £4.50 US and worldwide)           Booksellers discount available 40%.

Sheila Aldous Moniza Alvi Penny Ayers Denise Bennett Sara Boyes Alison Brackenbury Carole Bromley Maggie Butt Debjani Chatterjee Alison Chisholm Mary Chuck A C Clarke Gillian Clarke Chris Considine Rose Cook Pamela Coren Doris Corti Kerry Darbishire Kelly Davis Julia Deakin Rosemary Doman Barbara Dordi Ann Drysdale Anne Eccleshall Hilary Elfick Kate Foley Katherine Gallagher	Rebecca Gethin Caroline Gilfillan Susanna Harding Pauline Hawkesworth Anne Hay Barbara Hickson Doreen Hinchliffe Joy Howard Angela Kirby Nora Hughes Rosie Jackson Maria Jastrzᶒbska Mimi Khalvati Angela Kirby Wendy Klein Thelma Laycock Gill Learner Janet Loverseed Mandy Macdonald Fokkina McDonnell Gill McEvoy Rosemary McLeish Jane Monach Jenny Morris Cheryl Moskowitz Frances Nagle Lindy Newn	Jennie Osborne Ness Owen Mandy Pannett Liz Parkes Jo Peters Katrina Porteous Jenny Pritchard Anne Ryland Marka Rifat Elisabeth Rowe Hermione Sandall Verity Schanche Ruth Sharman Pat Simmons Deborah Sloan Anne Stewart Hilary Stobbs Janet Sutherland Susan Utting Eleanor J Vale Fiona Ritchie Walker Josie Walsh Andrea Ward Jean Watkins Susan Wicks Merryn Williams Jackie Wills
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Measuring the Depth

Poems about lakes

Constantly changing in colour and temperament, lakes are endlessly fascinating, inviting both quiet contemplation and strenuous activity. They are also home to a wide variety of wildlife and subject to human intervention. These poems are observations and meditations on this unique geographical phenomenon.

Edited by Joy Howard
ISBN: 978-1-9996903-4-2

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press

Retail price £5 + £1  p&p   (£2  Europe  £3 US and worldwide)           Booksellers discount 40%.

NB  A donation of 50p from the sale of each book will be made to the Lake District Foundation’s Ullswater Way Project

Veronica Aaronson Carole Bromley Maggie Butt Mary Chuck A C Clarke Doris Corti Kerry Darbishire Julia Deakin Ann Drysdale Mary Dingee Fillmore Cynthia Fuller Katherine Gallagher	Caroline Gilfillan Geraldine Green Joy Howard Kathleen Jones Wendy Klein Gill McEvoy Frances Nagle Jennie Osborne Ilse Pedler Elizabeth Rapp Marka Rifat Jo Roach	Elisabeth Rowe Jennifer Russell Hermione Sandall Penelope Shuttle Hilary Tatterrshall Susan Taylor Fiona Ritchie Walker Josie Walsh Jean Watkins Merryn Williams
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Out of Context

An anthology of ‘found’ poems

The literary equivalent of a collage, ‘found’ poems take existing texts and refashion them. Words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources are reframed, thus imparting new meaning. Sometimes humorous, sometimes deadly serious, all these poems make a telling point.

Edited by Joy Howard

‘This brilliant collection demonstrates that you can take a commonplace piece of prose, shuffle the words, perhaps add some of your own and come up with a remarkable poem. A bit like those cathedral windows which consist entirely of glittering fragments from elsewhere. The original could be a news report, a child’s sampler, a recipe, a government handout, a school logbook from another century or a popular magazine which juxtaposes serious news with inane adverts. These poets are an inventive lot. You will certainly find something here which gives you ideas.’ Merryn Williams

 

ISBN: 978-1-9996903-1-1

Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press

Retail price £8 + £1.25  p&p   (£2.50  Europe  £3.50 US and worldwide)           Booksellers discount available 40%.

Veronica Aaronson Sheila Aldous Ann Alexander Jean Atkin Kate Blackadder Carole Bromley Maggie Butt Debjani Chatterjee Alison Chisholm Rose Cook Pamela Coren Kathryn Daszkiewicz Kelly Davis Julia Deakin Cathy Dreyer	Ann Drysdale Cathy Grindrod Joy Howard Gill Learner Pippa Little Alison Mace Gill McEvoy Char March Fokkina McDonnell Joan Michelson Jenny Morris Rennie Parker M R Peacocke Jo Peters Ellen Phethean	Eveline Pye Marka Rifat Elizabeth Rowe Penelope Shuttle Ruth Smith Martha Street Susan Taylor Eleanor J Vale Jean Watkins Fiona Ritchie Walker Toni Wilde Margaret Wood Liz Woods Pauline Yarwood
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Further Than It Looks

Poems about mountains

Awesome, immense, at once inviting and threatening, mountains have inspired painters and poets, challenged the adventurous and offered a hard-won living to local peoples. Here are poems that celebrate their splendour and explore our relationship with them.

Edited by Joy Howard

 

ISBN: 978-0-9933756-9-9
Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press

Retail price £5 + £1 p&p    (Europe £2  US  and worldwide  £3)                  Booksellers discount 40%.

NB A donation on 50p from the sale of each book will be made to the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association

Jean Atkin Anne Boileau Carole Bromley Caroline Carver Alison Chisholm Chris Considine Kerry Darbishire Kate Davis Rosemary Doman Ann Drysdale Jane Duran Katherine Gallagher	Caroline Gilfillan Geraldine Green Gabriel Griffin Joy Howard Nora Hughes Stevie Krayer Rosemary McLeish Char March Alwyn Marriage Jane Monach Frances Nagle Jennie Osborne .	M R Peacocke Katrina Porteous Maggie Rabatski Elisabeth Rowe Jennifer Russell Penelope Shuttle Hilary Tatterrshall Susan Taylor Frances White Merryn Williams Lynne Wycherley
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VASTER THAN EMPIRES

Poems about vegetables

Love them, sometimes loathe them, vegetables are such a part of our daily lives it can be hard to take a fresh look. Within the covers of this book you will find a market stall of beauty and desirability which will change the way you look at your 5-a-day.

 

Edited by Joy Howard

Illustrated by Frances Pilston

‘A feast of an anthology! Funny, educative, sexy and thought-provoking, a group celebration of the humble vegetable quickly turns to pure deliciousness. From aubergine to artichoke, salsify to turnip — there’s something here for every poetry palate.’ Helena Nelson

 

ISBN: 978-0-9933756-5-1
Available now from Gardners or direct from Grey Hen Press

Retail price £8 + £1.25 p&p       ( £2.50 Europe  £3.50 US and worldwide)                      Booksellers discount available.

Ann Alexander R V Bailey Elizabeth Birchall Alison Brackenbury Helen Burke Caroline Carver Alison Chisholm A C Clarke Rose Cook Pamela Coren Liz Crosby Kerry Darbishire Kelly Davis Rosemary Doman Ann Drysdale	Sylvia Fairley Mary Dingee Fillmore Wendy French Katherine Gallagher Frances Green Gabriel Griffin Joy Howard Angela Kirby Jane Kite Wendy Klein Stevie Krayer Gill Learner Mandy Macdonald Gill McEvoy Char March .	Joan Michelson Ilse Pedler Melanie Penycate Jo Peters Kathy Pimlott J A Priestman Myra Schneider Ruth Smith Martha Street Fiona Ritchie Walker Josie Walsh Christine Webb Pat Winslow Margaret Wood
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SONGS FOR THE UNSUNG

Unremarked, overlooked, alienated, disadvantaged, marginalised, often despised. But the unsung represented here have lived life with the odds stacked against them – with greater or lesser success, but with courage and humanity.

Edited by Joy Howard

‘They are everywhere. They curl on streets in quiet blankets, wait at borders, work in cabbage fields, staff hospitals by night. They can be unheard, unseen. But when you read the generous and eloquent poems in this anthology, they are no longer the unsung.’ Alison Brackenbury

 

‘This beautiful compilation illuminates lives of the unseen and unheard, unheeded and, at times, hated. Here is a migrant child making sense of insults, here someone kind meeting a stranger and listening. We are blessed witnesses, guided gently out of grey apathy, towards understanding. And those words. They sound like intonations, not to the careless gods above, but to the humanity within each of us.’ Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

ISBN: 978-0-9933756-4-4

Edited by Joy Howard
Available now from Grey Hen @ £10 + £1.50  p&p   (£3.50 Europe   £4.50 US and worldwide)

50p from the sale of each book will go to Age International

 

 
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Extraordinary Forms

Some wonders of the natural world

An illustrated anthology of contemporary poems celebrating the individuality of extant species: the odd, the everyday and the endangered.

 

‘Delightfully quirky, with apt and delicate illustrations. The poems are beautifully arranged, subject and form vibrating off each other. And behind so many an urgency – the pull of migration, the threat of loss.’ Pauline Stainer

Edited by Joy Howard

Illustrated by Sue Hardy-Dawson
Available now from Grey Hen @ £8 + £1.25 p&p.  (£2.50 Europe  £3.50 US and worldwide)

50p from the sale of each book will go to the Rainforest Foundation

 

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Grey Hen Chapbooks

 

Outlook Variable Poems to help us take whatever the weather throws at us – hail, sleet and snow, wind and storm, fog and frost, occasional sunshine. And plenty of rain.	Shades of Meaning Poems that celebrate all the colours of the rainbow, and explore some of the many different aspects of each.	Transitions Poems to take you through the year, from the frosts of January to the dark of December, but with much to cheer about on the way.
ISBN 978-0-9926983-6-2	ISBN 978-0-9926983-5-5Edited by Joy Howard	ISBN 978-0-9926983-7-9Edited by Joy Howard
Edited by Joy Howard
‘Packed with work by an amazing 63 poets…the poems are, as ever with Grey Hen Press feisty and fearless, questioning, and approaching their topics from all sides’. Anne Stewart (ARTEMIS poetry)Available now from Grey Hen @ £4 + £1 p&p (Europe £2 Other overseas £3)
Buy all three titles from Grey Hen @ £12 + £1.50 p&p (Europe £3.50 US and worldwide £4.50)

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Running Before the Wind

Poems about the Sea

 

Edited by Joy Howard

This anthology of contemporary poems covers every aspect of our sometimes conflicting relationship with unbiddable two-thirds of our planet.

‘A wind-shaken, salt-laden, heartload of poems by women, and not a dead fish among them. I have lived within sight of the sea all my life, and this is the most enjoyable anthology I have read on this subject’. Gillian Clarke

 

‘Take my advice – run away to sea with this crew of seventy-three women poets who explore all aspects of the ocean from the mundane to the mighty These poets have eyes as sharp as kittiwakes for all the sea’s inhabitants as well as being alert to its moods, mystery and magnificence. Go where they take you. Taste the salt in their words.’ Diana Hendry

Available now from Grey Hen @ £12 + £1.50 p&p. (Europe £3.50 US and worldwide £4.50)

50p from the sale of each book will go to the RNLI

 

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The Price of Gold

Poems about the Honey Bee

 

Edited by Joy Howard

Illustrated by Cathy Benson

A collection of poems celebrating honey bees. The current crisis of health in bee populations make this an important time to recognise their importance to us.

 

’Who more appropriate than women poets of today, with their quiet eye for detail, order, industry, living spaces, to explore that parallel world of skeps and keepers, queens and workers, lore, science, craft and myth all the way from Ljubljana to Aberdeen, down the centuries from the middle ages to our own, in a rich honeycomb of bee-poems.’ Anne-Marie Fyfe

’If you’re wanting to buy a present for a friend, try this. The collection is successfully carried by the enthusiasm and fine observation of the writers, and by Cathy Benson’s delicate drawings. A satisfying anthology to browse in.’ Meg Peacocke

ISBN 978-0-9552952-7-0

Available now from Grey Hen @ £8 + £1.50  p&p (Europe £2.50 US and worldwide £3 50)
50p from the sale of each book will go to research sponsored by the British Beekeepers Association

 

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A Source Of Strange Delight

Poems about the Brontes

A chapbook of twelve poems featuring poets for whom a connection with the Brontë family, the Parsonage and Haworth has special meaning. With twelve original illustrations.

Edited by Joy Howard

Illustrated by Cathy Benson

 

ISBN 978-0-9552952-8-7

Available now from Grey Hen @ £4 + £1 p p&p (Europe £2  US and worldwide £3)

 

 

 

In this new anthology, a follow-up to Grey Hen’s popular A Twist Of Malice, older women poets take a shrewish look at the trials and tribulations of modern life.

Get Me Out of Here!

Poems for trying circumstances

Edited by Joy Howard

’ Journey from hell? Unwanted company? Wish you weren’t here? Home horrors and workplace blues? Stuck for words…?

 

Life as we have to live it, and how poetry can help.

’A collection of poems by turns tough, tender, bittersweet, eagle-eyed and laugh-out-loud funny: a chorus of confident women’s voices from the contemporary world.’ Tiffany Atkinson

’This anthology is an A-Z of women poets whose formidable eye and instict for pithy observation make this anthology one to treasure. Required reading for all ages but especially for the young-and-grumpy-in-heart. ’This world’, say these poets,’is not a better place. Deal with it’ they say. Then they show us how. Read it!’ Penelope Shuttle

£8.00 + p&p UK: £1.50  Europe: £2.50 US and worldwide £3.50

(Booksellers discounts available on request)

 

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No Space But Their Own

A celebration of our love of birds and the enrichment that encounters with them bring to our lives

 

Edited by Joy Howard

Illustrated by Emma Stansfield

 

Foreword by Andrew Motion

’ Here are beautiful word pictures of birds, giving new and different insights. Without birds, our lives would be enormously diminished and this anthology will hopefully encourage people to appreciate them more and support their conservation. Lovely illustration’ Dafila Scott

’A chorus of new poems on well-known birds – wry, witty, representational but above all, celebratory, reminding us of the fierce, almost unnameable delights offered by these winged creatures. This wide-ranging selection highlights their beauty, vulnerability and constant need for habitat protection….a book to read and savour’ Katherine Gallagher

£8.00 + p&p £1.50. Europe £2.50 US and worldwide £3.50

50p from the sale of each book will be donated to the RSPB

 

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This anthology explores all 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 women over 60

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 (Europe ££3.50 US and worldwide 4.50)

 

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Exit Moonshine

Coming out and carrying on

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

 

Poems by Joy Howard

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 £1.25  Europe £2.25  US and worldwide £3.25

 

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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 + £1.50 p&p (Europe £2.50 US and worldwided £3.50)

 

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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 + £1  p&p ( Europe £2 US and overseas £3)

 

 

Order By Post (Cheque / Postal Order)