Please join me in congratulating Allan Gaw on the launch of his poetry pamphlet Love & Other Diseases published by Seahorse Publications
Love & Other Diseases
Love & Other Diseases, Allan Gaw’s debut poetry collection, was launched by Seahorse Publications this week. The book has been hailed as ‘a triumph, pushing the boundaries of form and content all the way out’ (Julie McNeill), and its author has been described as ‘a fresh voice in contemporary verse exploring with crafted perception and emotion the connections between self and the things of the world around him’ (Jim Mackintosh).
The collection of 50 poems range from subtle poems of love and loss through to eerie personifications of the diseases that have ravaged humankind.
Professionally, Allan Gaw worked as a doctor and pathologist for over 30 years. Now he has returned to his first love of writing using his experiences in medicine to fuel both his prose and his poetry. His short stories have won the UK Classical Association Creative Writing Competition, the International Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize and the International Globe Soup 7 day Writing Challenge. Previously, he has had poems published in anthologies by Dreich, Soor Ploom Press and Black Bough Poetry. Love & Other Diseases is his first collection.
Please join me in congratulating Elizabeth M. Castillo on the launch of her poetry pamphlet Not Quite An Ocean published by Nine Pens.
Not Quite an Ocean by Elizabeth M. Castillo is a paean to the feminine, to motherhood and to the natural world. At once these poems are both unabashed in their celebration of womanhood, and are searing in their unflinching confrontation with darker undercurrents that threaten to break and destroy. The poems in Not Quite an Ocean are beacons, are rallying calls, and are ultimately a roars of strength, pride and hope that cannot be silenced or subdued:
Elizabeth M Castillo is a British-Mauritian poet, writer, workshop teacher, and a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. She lives in Paris with her family and two cats, where she runs a variety of different businesses, writes a variety of different things, in a variety of different languages, and under a variety of pen names. In her writing Elizabeth explores the different countries and cultures she grew up with, as well as themes of race & ethnicity, motherhood, womanhood, language, love, loss and grief, and a touch of magical realism. Her writing has been featured in publications and anthologies in the UK, US, Australia, Mexico and the Middle East. Her bilingual, debut collection “Cajoncito: Poems on Love, Loss, y Otras Locuras” is for sale on Amazon, and her debut chapbook “Not Quite an Ocean” is out now with Nine Pens Press
As this is my 500th blog post, I thought it should be a big announcement. So here it is:-
The Oath is now available to preorder via Amazon Kindle at an early bird price which will increase on 1st August 2023.
The Oath takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster with its captivating story set in the late Victorian era. Although heartbreaking, it is also uplifting, both of which may cause the reader to shed a tear or two.
Opening in France on 23rd March 1895, Françoise’s seventeenth birthday,her father announces she’s to leave her homeland and travel to England to marry distant cousin Charles Dubois.
‘Playtime is over. Seventeen is old enough to wed and bear a child.’
Narrators, Francoise and her servant girl, Tilly, defy class boundaries and become close friends.
Both young women have their own story to tell.
Marry the baronet, or vulnerable parents face la prison des pauvres
France 1895 – Seventeen-year-old Françoise abandons her carefree life and sails for England to marry distant cousin Charles Dubois. On arrival she finds her groom aloof and evasive.
Draped in expensive silk brocade, she yearns for her homeland and comfortable gowns, and when she discovers the baronet’s clandestine visits, it is her cheery maid she turns to, her new confidante and friend.
BETRAYAL – HEARTBREAK – FRIENDSHIP
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The Oath will be released in paperback format on 24th July 2023 and available to buy from Amazon, or ordered from any good bookstore, or requested from the library.
The Oath: A coming of age, historical fiction saga from the author
I’m delighted to welcome poet, Jamie Woods, to Patricia’s Pen. Jamie has come along to blog about his debut poetry collection Rebel Blood Cells. Without further ado, it’s over to Jamie.
Rebel Blood Cells
Jamie Woods
Thanks for having me on your site to talk about my new /debut poetry pamphlet Rebel Blood Cells. Quite a lot of people have said it’s “not an easy read” which is understandable. Not because of the obscure and obtuse use of metaphor or punctuation, but because of the subject matter: cancer and PTSD. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an easy book to write either. I’d much prefer a world where I just carried on wanting to be a writer but not actually writing.
Over the years I’ve had the kind of relationship with writing poetry that you might find in a romcom: brief encounters, a little bit of flirting, staring deep into the eyes and about to lock lips but then get interrupted, oh no there’s a misunderstanding, until finally, finally, something huge and momentous happens and then they kiss and it’s happily ever after.
For me that something huge and momentous was a rare and dangerous form of blood cancer – Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia.
The whole experience was a dizzy blur of a fever dream – both figuratively and literally. I could hardly see, could hardly understand what was happening, I was so very ill and it all happened so quickly. As I started to get better, I tried to write to comprehend what I’d been through. Trauma therapy, late night tearful conversations with my wife, going through my hospital notebooks to find those pockets of clarity I’d scribbled down, all contributing to create a record of sorts.
This record naturally became poems, and I was able to use the writing and editing process as a form of catharsis and self-expression, because poetry exists in those grey areas, the blank spaces, between the lines and just off the page. My poems were conversations, with myself, my wife, my therapist, a fictional god. None of my experience was black and white. Sometimes I craved the sanctuary of my hospital bed, sometimes I wanted to run away and go… well, anywhere. Sometimes I just didn’t have the energy or willingness to take another round of chemo or whatever drugs they were pumping into me.
I learned a lot about myself, my illness, and the cancer community in putting together this collection. Not every cancer patient is the same – some love to ring the bell to end their treatment, an idea that repulsed me. It turns out I wasn’t alone in feeling this way either, when one of the first poems from Rebel Blood Cells ‘Ring the Bell’ was commended in the Hippocrates Prize and then shared on Twitter by a prominent cancer account.
While the book contains my cancer and my PTSD, it also is home to my heart and my soul, and overall, hope. The hope that may or may not exist, but you cling to anyway. I was lucky enough to make it through, and everyday I am so grateful. Although survivors guilt tends to pop up from time to time. I wish I didn’t have to write it. But I did, and I hope that it gives others comfort and understanding into situations like this.
About Jamie Woods
Jamie Woods is a writer based in Swansea, south Wales. His poetry has been included in Poetry Wales, iamb, Lucent Dreaming, Ink Sweat & Tears and more. All profits from his debut pamphlet Rebel Blood Cells go to the charity Leukaemia Care where he volunteers as ‘poet-in-residence’.
Please join me in congratulating poet, Samantha Terrell on the launch of her brand new poetry collection, Confronting The Elements. (JC STUDIO Press)
Confronting The Elements
Confronting the Elementsis a poetry collection by American poet, Samantha Terrell, which pays tribute to three of the four natural elements – fire, earth, and air – whilst exploring the spiritual and social impacts of the human relationship with the world around us. Confronting the Elements features all original (non-AI) cover art and watercolor illustrations by professional Scottish artist, Jane Cornwell. It follows Terrell and Cornwell’s collaborative illustrated chapbook, Keeping Afloat (2021), which showcases the fourth element – water.
Samantha Terrell is an internationally published poet whose books have received five-star reviews and accolades from her peers. Her poetry emphasizes self-awareness as a means to social awareness and can be found in: Dissident Voice, Dove Tales, Green Ink Poetry, In Parentheses, Misfit Magazine, Nine Cloud Journal, Paddler Press, Poetry Quarterly, Red Weather, and many other fine publications. Terrell is a wife, mother, and former manager in the nonprofit sector who writes from her home in upstate New York. Find her online at: http://www.samanthaterrell.com and on Instagram @honestypoetrybysamantha
I’m delighted to invite Annick Yerem, a fellow Hedgehog Poetry Press poet, over to Patricia’s Pen for the first time. Annick is not only a poet but also founder of a new poetry press. She is here to tell you more about her writing so without further ado, it’s over to Annick.
My Writing
Annick Yerem
Thank you so much for inviting me, Patricia!
Writing found me again at the end of 2019. The year before, I had started taking care of my parents, who had both become very ill. The plan was originally to write a book about the German care system, how to apply for things, very matter-of-fact. But after one session with Nancy Wigglesworth, a wonderful coach, there was suddenly a poem in my head, called Things I Cannot Tell My Children. It was also the first time I wrote in English, not in German. I ended up on Twitter early 2020, made videos of readings and met Tanya Shadrick and Ankh Spice, the best mentors I could have hoped for.
The writing of my book, St Eisenberg and The Sunshine Bus, wasn´t a conscious decision at first, but most of the poems I wrote were about my father and it helped me to brave the situation which was heartbreaking and tragic. So at some point, I decided to tell a part of his story with this book and when The Hedgehog Poetry Press agreed to publish it, things fell into place. My father died in 2020, the book was published in 2022. It is more or less his eulogy.
To start the whole writing process again, which in my case is not stringent, but very haphazard, has meant a lot more than the writing itself. As a chronically ill person, I had become quite isolated where I live and the writing and what came with, changed all that in the course of the last three years. To be part of a community, to create something out of what felt hopeless and sad, has meant the world to me.
It also gave me the courage not only to write my book, but to found Sídhe Press in order to promote and lift up other poets’ work. It is something that I have found do-able as I can go ahead at my own pace. I have been fortunate to work with fantastic co-editors and poets like Mo Schoenfeld, Larissa Reid and Sarah Connor, with many more like Sue Finch to come. In 2020, I decided to walk through every door that opened for me, to try out everything and not be worried about failure, however that may be defined.
This has meant that at times, I have overwhelmed myself a little, but most of the time, it has been life-enhancing and so enriching. People can be dismissive about social media and tell you it´s not real. But we are, of course, real people and we can make real connections there that become part of our fabric and of what we work with and what we write about.
Looking at my bookshelves now fills me with immense joy: all these amazing people I have met that have entered my formerly solitary existence, all these words that they have given to me and that I have hopefully given to them. It is quite something to be a part of that.
About Annick Yerem
Annick Yerem is a German/ Scottish poet based in Berlin. She has an adult son and a senior dog. Annick has been published in wonderful places like iamb, The Dirigible Ballon, River Mouth Review, Eat The Storms, Open Collab and Anti-Heroin Chic. Her book, St. Eisenberg and the Sunshine Bus, was published in 2022 with Hedgehog Press UK. She is a member of the Flaming Flower Society and the EIC of Sídhe Press. Annick is a renowned cake spy.
Congratulations to The Broken Spine on the launch of Four Forked Tongues. Four Forked Tongues is an anthology of four short stories exploring unreliable narrators, and themes of family, magic, and grief featuring four writers: Sally Filer – Bethany Lewis – Lucy Aur – Elizabeth Kemball
Four Forked Tongues
‘In a world where poetry is a curse, and silence is her only defence, Callie tries to find her voice.’
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‘The past haunts the present as Meg is forced to return to her childhood home to live with her ageing parents. Can a rupture in time help her to fix her broken life and write a happier ending for herself?‘
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‘What would you do if spinning a lie meant suffering in silence, but telling the truth meant suffering the consequences? Thea has a choice to make, and the weight of her kingdom is on her shoulders.‘
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‘Words have weight and silence has a price. How do you tell someone you love them, when all you really mean is you miss them?‘
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Four Forked Tonguesbrings together four new and unique voices in the fiction scene in one captivating collection.
The Broken Spine is a poetry and arts collective proudly published on the coastal edge of North-West England. Founded in 2019 by Alan Parry and Paul Robert Mullen – two school friends reunited after twenty years through a mutual love of poetry.
I’m delighted to welcome Paul Brookes back to Patricia’s Pen as he launches his new limited edition pamphlet These Random Acts of Wildness published by Glass Head Press (2023), founded by eminent poet Ian Parks. Without further ado, it’s over to Paul.
These Random Acts of Wildness
Paul Brookes
Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild annual campaign in June encourages people to enjoy Random Acts Of Wildness. I set myself a challenge to write 30 sonnets using their prompts. More marvellous ideas can be found in Lucy McRobert’s marvellous book 365 Days Wild.
The wonderful cover of my book was designed by genius artworker Jane Cornwell. She used my photo taken of The Fallen Angel in Wombwell Cemetery wittily adding a yellow duster for it to hold, and adding my name to the angel’s plinth. The actual figure is the only white angel in Wombwell Cemetery and there is a sonnet about how it was discovered, raised up and broken wing restored in the collection. It is one of seven Wombwell Cemetery sonnets at the end of the collection.
My mam, not an overtly religious person was one of Dylan Thomas’ Tidy wives, espousing the creed Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Somehow inner cleanliness became outer cleanliness, perhaps encouraged by medical emphasis on germ free environments. Inside uncleanness became outside mess. Outer reflecting the inner. The wild became messy, chaotic and unpredictable. Domestic became organised, predictable and sensible. I explore where both meet.
Local writer and presenter Ian McMillan encouraged folk during lockdown to write sonnets. Giving it a go, it soon became a sonnet a day to give my creative muscle exercise.
Unconsciously, whilst writing sonnet formality, language formality edged up against wilderness, wildness, emotional vitality, and the energy of dialect and difference. These themes are taken on in more detail in this book’s sequel Othernesses published by J C Studio Press earlier this year which explores the lives of insects, arachnids, and marine life.
It forms the final book in a loose quartet, beginning with Wonderland in Alice: Plus Other Ways of Seeing continuing in As Folktaleteller.
Copies of These Random Acts of Wildness can only be bought direct from Paul Brookes as it is a limited edition with only 29 copies left out of 100. Only £5.00 plus p & p. The other three books are available on Amazon. Order your copy by messaging Paul on one of the following links.
I am proud to have two of my poems included in this gorgeous issue.
Tutankhamun: Wonderful Things
Black Bough Poetrycelebrate 100 years since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Be moved, spellbound and transported by poems and prose from writers across the world; get inspired, too, by Rebecca Wainright’s illustrations and a stirring musical score online by Stuart Rawlinson.
Black Bough Poetry celebrate one hundred years of the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt, in 1922. This special edition includes illustrations by Rebecca Wainwright, a musical score by Stuart Rawlinson and is edited by Matthew M.C. Smith, Ankh Spice and Jack B. Bedell. Tutankhamun: Wonderful Things features prose and poetry from across the world. A collection of diverse voices with powerful, atmospheric, imagistic work taking you right there to the Valley of the Kings. Be prepared to be struck, moved and transported by this stunning collection!
Patricia M Osborne 