Bücher veröffentlicht von Valley Press

In this collection of eerie, beautifully crafted stories, lives are lived slightly out of sync with the ordinary world. From a man who makes sock puppets to elderly Italian craftswomen and hens at a taxidermy party, family stories are seamlessly woven with folklore, journeys and natural phenomena to examine the quirks, pain and resilience of human existence.Framing her tales in the nebulous, shimmering concepts of sky, light and rain, Judy Darley deftly explores our relationship with the natural world and one another, reminding us that however far we travel, some connections remain unbreakable.

Madame Spots is lauded for setting up a free school in her village, but her seductive silk qipao and obvious wealth elicit deadly envy as well as admiration. The Phoenix Widow finds a jar of ingots but loses her precious son to wily and, ultimately, unwise kidnappers. Little Spoon stumbles into Running Cow Valley Village with two pails on her water pole and inadvertently becomes a hero to people parched of leadership. Feng Laicai, a diminutive farmer with a life of bad luck behind him, is suddenly thrust into the spotlight, thanks to a scholarly goat.Set in the counties of the Western Plain, these bleak yet beautiful stories shed an incisive light on the extraordinary lives of colourful people. While closely observing the triumphs and tragedies of a cast of unforgettable characters, the ten stories that make up this important collection also bear witness to the evolution of rural China from the early days of the 20th century to the late 1980s, skillfully illustrating the often brutal battle between tradition and progress.

A man does battle with a wolf, two sworn brothers lock horns - literally - as they drink and brag the night away and an old man turns to his flame-bellied stove for comfort when facing a bitter winter alone.These are just some of the fascinating folk who inhabit the magical stories of Hong Ke. Set in Xinjiang, the gateway between China and Middle Asia, The Howl of the Wolf paints a colourful picture of frontier life in all its earthy glory.

This is a book for people who like to gorge on language; a meal too big for people who hate to throw away their food. It is about life's extremes - those times when you do things to excess, and those when you avoid doing anything at all. Sometimes political, sometimes sexual and always hungry, this visceral, arresting debut pamphlet marks the arrival of an unforgettable new 'mouth' in UK poetry.

In A Bench for Billie Holiday, James Nash tenderly retraces seventy years of life through seventy new sonnets. Whether lightly sketching moments of truth or revisiting his younger self with the benefit of insight and experience, he imbues each fourteen-line fragment with wit, wisdom and wonder.Looking back from various locations, each ideal for serious thought (whether the train, a bike or a sea-facing bench), he pieces together autobiographical shards of truth that reflect both the smallest details of his own life and the larger issues we face as a society, nation and species.A perfect follow-up to his beloved first volume of sonnets, Some Things Matter, this book adds new breadth and depth to the work of one of Yorkshire's most popular poets.

Second EditionDeath for the bomber crew limping back over the estuary? Life after death for the young woman buried under the trees, beneath the city? A lunch break after death - as decades, centuries break their moorings and collide with each other?Felix Hodcroft is one of the most talented poets writing in Britain today, and Life After Life After Death, originally published in 2010, is his first full-length collection.Driven by an impressive control of narrative and character, his poems shine a light into every corner of society - including yours - and consider familiar subjects as they've never been considered before. The poems are separated into two halves - fifteen under 'life', fifteen under 'death' - though the lines are never as clear as we might like, and of course the 'Life' section comes after 'Death'. "It is impossible to remain unmoved."Kate Evans"Full of wonder, beauty and humanity."James NashManchester-born, Oxford-bred, Felix Hodcroft gained degrees in English Literature and Applied Social Sciences. He has worked as a probation officer in Birmingham, Hull and East Yorkshire, but retired from full-time work in 2010 to pursue more poetry.

In 2016, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History hosted three poets-in-residence: John Barnie, Steven Matthews and Kelley Swain.Inspired by their time delving into the museum¿s drawers and cabinets, the poets¿ new work viewed the collections with fresh eyes. Their poems are presented here alongside 19th-century poetry from writers linked with the early days of the museum.Together, the poems in this anthology are a tribute to the Pre-Raphaelite origins of the Oxford University Museum, and a rejuvenation of its artistic legacy.

Dip into this book of children¿s poetry and take your pick. Will you find one to make you smile ... or make you think?Within this mixed-up selection you'll find such terrors as a dragon under the bed, dinner ladies (yikes!) and a cereal-loving dinosaur. You might glimpse a fox, if you open that page quickly enough, and you'll find helpful poems to read out loud if you ever lose your passport, or haven't quite got round to brushing your teeth yet..."Catharine Boddy is a highly-gifted writer whose poems cover a wide range of experiences: she skilfully communicates the child¿s voice, and can be humorous, or reflective, or richly descriptive. These new poems will be greatly appreciated by children, and deserve to reach the widest possible audience."¿ Wes Magee

Raw Material is a new collection of short stories from one of Hull¿s foremost twenty-first century writers. Some of the characters in these tales are writers too ¿ others are murderers, some are both. One is Led Zeppelin¿s Robert Plant. Some may not be human; but that would be telling.¿Do not expect gentle bedtime stories from Sue Wilseäs latest collection. Rather, expect to grip your seat in anticipation ¿ of wonderful words that grip and explode and then tug earnestly at your inner self.¿¿ Val Wood¿This wise, beautiful collection explores themes of living and dying, succeeding and failing, loving and hating, creating and failing to create. The stories¿ narrators are a delight ¿ I was completely engrossed by this collection from start to finish.¿¿ Cassandra Parkin

All the Footprints I Left Were Red is concerned with origins: how the places we¿ve lived and the people we¿ve loved leave their mark on us. Born to an English mother and Kiwi father, Rowena Knight grew up in New Zealand and immigrated to England on her thirteenth birthday. Her poems explore the heightened sense of alienation that being ¿foreign¿ brings to adolescence; whether coming to terms with an England that is a far cry from the Enid Blyton books you were raised on, or trying to survive school with the wrong words ¿ and rucksack.These poems grapple with the meaning of coming of age in a world where women and girls are often objects for male consumption, and gendered violence follows you wherever you go ¿ even into the fantastical landscapes of your favourite childhood films. But amid the violence there is revelry: in food, in love, in giving one¿s body to another ¿ or all three simultaneously.This is a book for anyone who has ever felt out of place, wondered why it is that women so often write poems about being in the bath, or grew up believing the Goblin King was real.¿Rowena Knight's striking, sensuous poems compel and resonate, immersing the reader in their bold, surreal and astringent imagery, where a culturally displaced narrator eschews cosy familiarity and certainties for more thrilling and de-stabilising contemplations of herself, her family and the complexities of memory and relationships. Bold, visceral and unsentimental.'¿ Catherine Smith¿These days, we often think of a footprint as a tally of our impact in the world, but footprints are also ¿ for the naturalist or the detective ¿ the trace of a body. In myth and folklore, the footprints we leave might lead us back out of the maze or the dark woods, or serve as a trail so others can find us when we lose our way. The trail of these poems maps childhood, migration, dislocation, and the complexities of love and belonging. There are fables that chart insidious violence, the entrapment of women; there are lyrical, playful poems that celebrate sexuality and desire. These are forthright, humorous, sensuous, tender, acutely crafted poems that sing with hard-won knowledge, and with risk: bright, clear prints.¿¿ Kate Potts¿This is an assured and compelling debut from a poet who has a keen eye and a sharp tongue. Knight¿s poems are both humorous and humane, expansive in their ideas but restrained in their forms. Her subject is ¿otherness¿ and how we define ourselves in society, whether by birthplace, gender, or stance; her poems carry serious messages, but deliver them with a light touch.¿¿ Tamar Yoseloff

A young couple wonder whether family life would be easier if they were cuttlefish. A father and daughter communicate through moths. A child embraces the power she has over creatures smaller than herself. A town finds itself at the mercy of a polar bear...In her debut pamphlet, Charlotte Eichler explores human relationships through our ambivalent interactions with the natural world. Navigating many literal and metaphorical islands along the way, her poems form an archipelago of ideas, taking us on an unforgettable journey from the Hebrides to the Norse heavens.

Norah Hanson is one of Hull's most important modern poets; a natural heir to the city's legendary literary heritage and reputation. Her first collection of poetry, Love Letters & Children's Drawings, delighted readers of all ages upon its publication in November 2011.Whether reflecting on the past, through derelict landmarks and absent friends, confronting present-day 'domestic dilemmas' with wit and good-humour, or looking to the future through the eyes (and extraordinary energies) of her grandchildren, Norah remains unswervingly honest, entertaining and inventive. Love Letters & Children's Drawings is poetry at its very best ¿ constantly insightful, compelling, essential."Speaks to the reader's heart... pure, practical and prophetic. A true poet."Deirdre McGarry"Norah manages - perhaps because this book distils a lifetime of writing - to bring before us the tragedy of the human condition, making it sound beautiful and worth living through."Paul Sutherland"Intelligent, compassionate and humane... a treasure trove." Helen BurkeNorah Hanson was born in Hull in 1937. She spent much of the war in Beverley, before returning to Hull in 1943. Since her retirement, Norah has devoted much of her time to writing poetry, which has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies - including Dream Catcher, Iota, The Hull Connection and Patterns of Hope. She has also had much competition success, including being shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and commended in the Yorkshire Open.

Victoria Gatehouse explores science and art in her debut poetry publication, seeking out the similarities and tensions that attract and repel them in equal measure. A clinical researcher by day, by night she collects, tests, measures and records her thoughts on the materials from which we each build our lives ¿ both practical and spiritual.Light, metal, electricity, shells and fabric are each treated with a similar scrutiny, linked by a scientific thread, knotted with humour, playful subversion and lyrical wonder.

Is it possible to disappear in a world where everyone is connected by technology? The unnamed everyman at the heart of illustrator Si Smith¿s debut graphic novel manages to leave his life behind after the death of his father, but escaping his own thoughts proves more problematic. As his outer world diminishes, his inner world takes over, emerging through ever more elaborate murals on the dank walls of the deserted inner-city office he calls home.With its multi-layered illustrations of contemporary Leeds, using real locations and real people, How to Disappear Completely provides an intriguing, previously uncharted landscape that bears repeated exploration. There¿s something new to discover with every reading, about art, theology, pop culture and music, and how they can each shed a little light in dark times and provide fleeting but crucial hints of hope.

¿When you turn on the bathroom light your reflection stares numbly back at you, gormless and vacant. You blink. Your eyes are yellow, as is your skin. Yoüve lost weight: your pyjamas hang off your arms like the wilting leaves of a dying plant.You stare at yourself in the mirror for several surreal minutes. The thing before you is not you. But it is.¿In January 2011, aged 21, Tom Preston was diagnosed with stage 4 advanced aggressive lymphoma. His chances of survival were optimistically placed at around 40%. This short, autobiographical work tells the story of the fight in the months that followed ¿ but this is no ordinary cancer memoir.The Boy in the Mirror is written in the second person ¿ so the events in this book are happening to you, the reader, living through the hope, love, suffering, death and black comedy encountered by Tom during the battle to save himself."A raw account of his months of excrutiating pioneering treatment." - The Sunday Times"This is ultimately a book about love, trust, and overcoming death-defying odds." - The Sun

Bird, beast or man, we each have the same element at our core: bones. While our forms may change, the bones always remain ¿ and in this thrilling debut, the poet celebrates their beauty and structure though folk tales, philosophy, day dreams and night terrors. Aided by a host of characters including a girl who fell in love with a mountain, a woman who can only ever look at you sideways, and a man made of bees, Caroline Hardaker creates a dozen unforgettable worlds entirely her own.

Sparks is the third collection of passionate, poignant poetry from much-loved Hull-based author Norah Hanson. The fiery wit and hard-won wisdom that characterised her previous collections are here, intact, with a new level of clarity and purpose adding weight to the words - without losing the warmth, wonder, and laugh-out-loud observational skills that have won Norah readers across the world. Now six-times a great-grandmother, the poet's life experience shines through each page. There are no riddles or literary exercises here; Norah's refreshingly (and deceptively) direct language seems to rise from the earth itself.

Here is a book that celebrates the joys, the aches, the lapses, the frustrations and the creaks of the retirement years. With fifty funny, nostalgic and poignant rhymes about childhood memories, hair loss, modern technology, manners, packaging, cats, grandchildren and more it¿s the perfect read for those of fifty-plus who like a chuckle.

Before the Second World War, there were around seventy cinemas operating in Leeds. Since 2014, Valley Press poets James Nash and Matthew Hedley Stoppard have been visiting the sites of these abandoned picturehouses and writing about them in verse ¿ as well as covering the topic of cinema-going in general.

Saleem Peeradina is one of the most important Indian poets writing in the English language. Final Cut, his fifth collection, finds his attention turning to new subjects ¿ birds, their migration and intelligence; fruit, as it appears in memories, mythology and reality; objects (shaving brush, stapler, juicer, skillet) and ¿extraordinary ordinary¿ people, all finding their voices and speaking up.

Kelley Swain¿s The Naked Muse is a subtle, fascinating memoir about art ¿ from the object¿s point of view ¿ as well as an extended meditation on travel, painting and what it means to see.Swain describes her first experience disrobing for a group of painters, modelling for international artists over the course of six years, and posing as four saints for the frieze of a chapel in Sicily. Inviting readers into the intensely personal world of life drawing, Swain brings out the light and shade; both on the canvas and within ourselves.

A beautiful anthology featuring new writing responding to the life and death of David Oluwale, a Nigerian immigrant to Leeds found drowned in the River Aire in 1969. The anthology also includes selections from previously published works by writers including Kester Aspden, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Zodwa Nyoni, and competition judges Ian Duhig and Caryl Phillips.¿In Claudia Rankine¿s Citizen the speaker is asked in England if she will write about Mark Duggan. She replies, ¿Why don¿t you?¿Our competition entrants rose to that challenge over David Oluwale¿s story and its continuing echoes for oursociety in new and moving ways. Their work stands confidently beside that of better-known writers in ananthology all can be proud of, a document of their refusal to be silent in the face of abusive power.¿

Mr Jolly is the first collection of short stories by Michael Stewart, and contains some of the award-winning novelist¿s most extraordinary writing to date. Each tale offers a unique, utterly compelling insight into the human condition, framed by a mind-bendingly original concept that no other writer working today could ¿ or indeed would ¿ have concocted. Readers will meet a conformity-obsessed league of bald men, breaking into homes for an extended debate about the nature of freedom; discuss the nomenclature of the marshmallow with a man whose single goal in life is to witness them accidentally skewered on stiletto heels; and meet God, in perhaps the most frustrating (yet believable) depiction of the divine being in modern literature.Last phone calls, alien abductions, murders and more are grounded in stories of struggling parents, baffled lovers and lost children (some of who may live permanently onthe number 606 bus). However long you live, and however much you read, yoüll never come across another book quite like this.

In David O¿Hanlon¿s first full-length collection, precise, piercing language illuminates tales from actual, mythical and personal history ¿ making all three seem immediate, contemporary and universal. Readers will hear how ¿four unacquainted deaf men published near-identical essays deconstructing the assumed importance of sound¿, find new ways of reading the stories of Orpheus, Sisypus, Tantalus et al., and learn of a young man¿s twelve-year struggle to paint an authentic picture of the sky.

For Humfrey Coningsby ¿ lord of the manor of Neen Sollars in South Shropshire ¿ the world was a place of wonders and despair, of love found and then forsaken. He was a cantankerous, sentimental, petulant traveler; a gentleman soldier; a sly linguist; a confidant of Princes and Emperors; a receiver of such delights, and a doomed versifier. He walked out of this world on 10th October, 1610 ¿ and now he walks back in, with barely a word of explanation.This series of poems, complaints, explanations and demands for satisfaction forms the narrative of a life still being lived over four hundred years later. The Siege of Strigonium in 1594 was wretched; life in Aleppo in 2014 is worse.Johnathan Davidson was born in 1964 in Didcot, South Oxfordshire, and now lives in Coventry. He won an Eric Gregory award in 1990, and is the author of Moving the Stereo (Jackson's Arm, 1993), The Living Room (Arc, 1994), A Horse Called House (Smith/Doorstop, 1997) and Early Train (Smith/Doorstop, 2011). He has had eight radio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, along with radio adaptations of Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns and W.S. Graham's The Nightfishing.