Böcker utgivna av Valley Press

'Not far away, outside a lighted house.'The final collection in Ralph Dartford's 'Recovery Trilogy' sees the poet meditating on the tragic death of his beloved brother, Joseph, and how he lived in the mythical house of England: a nation of waving flags seen through soft focus sunlight. Here are his people, their misfitting tales that scratch and count the bricks of a private island imprisoned within its own walls, rituals and loneliness.Warm and lyrical, visceral in its fury, but finally resolute in its ceaseless quest for love and tenderness, this concluding collection dances the demand for better days - that we all must have the opportunity to recover and sing together. Whatever the cost to the crumbling mortar of old Albion.

The Selected Poems of Bermudian poet Nancy Anne Miller traces the decades she has been writing about her homeland, with the use of image metaphor as her primary tool for revealing Bermuda's complexities. Her choice of this technique is to consciously break apart linear intentional thinking or the masculine sentence as Woolf referenced.For Miller, the use of image metaphor allows a poem's meaning to radiate across the entire poem as one thing is reflected through another in a circular movement, hence preventing one final climatic interpretation. She states: "The island's history cannot be written down in a straight line" - and sees this as a female-voiced way of being a poet, one that is inclusive, layered, and exploratory.

Alisha Alva just wants teachers to treat her like a normal human being.Yes, her (super cool) mum has mental health issues she calls her Letters. And yes, staying up late helping Mum on Bad Nights sometimes means it's hard to keep her eyes open in school.But surely if Alisha acts like a very normal perfectly proper girl, her head of year Miss Penn will finally leave her alone.Oh, and don't forget the aliens. Last term, Alisha and her friends the Late Crew met extraterrestrials. Now, a new out-of-this-world creature is following Alisha. A creature that can become a copy of any living thing it sees.It might be that nothing is ever normal again...

Tyler is late for school again. And his teacher's not happy about it.Thing is, his mum is sick and his autistic younger brother, Levi, needs help getting ready for school. Is Tyler supposed to leave without giving Levi his breakfast or Mum her cup of tea?Sent to detention for lateness, he is joined by "bad-boy" Jayden, class clown Alisha, and, most surprisingly, straight-A student, Grace.When an alien crash lands in their school gym, "The Late Crew" are entrusted with his special cargo. But can Tyler really take on another responsibility? It turns out his fellow Late Crew have problems of their own; but perhaps if they team up, they could just save their school and their new friend too...

An illustrated poetic memoir, The Upcycled Healing Brain chronicles a journey from brain trauma to acceptance and healing. Experience profound emotions, creativity, and vibrant life through eco-therapy and buried spoons...

The Rabbit God: protector of queer hearts across East Asia. Can this ancient myth help rewrite our tomorrows?Hongwei Bao's debut collection charts an emotional journey through centuries and between nations, with the poet's own migration from Inner Mongolia to Nottingham offering a unique, fascinating perspective through which to examine Asian and queer identity.These are poems which hop energetically over any and all borders. Scenes of everyday heartache give way to fireworks of rage and joy, while intimate examinations of relationships and desire sit alongside politically charged pieces - as the poet contrasts injustices from ancient China with those from present-day England.In verses alive with longing and resistance, Bao's poems ask: what does it mean to love, defy, and bloom as a queer, Asian soul in our ever-changing world?

A fresh look at the natural world, as seen through the eyes of a poet-scientist. Longlisted for the Laurel Prize 2022."In this vivid, wide-ranging and reflexively-aware collection, Sarah Watkinson is a poet who is also a scientist, rather than a scientist writing poetry. She brings knowledge and experience, professional and personal, to her poetry and demonstrates mastery of her medium. She addresses important and profound themes but always with a light touch - and humour is never far away. This is an impressive first collection - and a model of informed nature writing." Steve Ely, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Huddersfield"In this collection, Sarah Watkinson provides a unique glimpse of the natural world, seen through the eyes of a poet-scientist. Most of us are simply incapable of putting into words how we really feel about the animals and plants we study. Thank goodness we have Sarah to do it for us." Lindsay Turnbull, Director of Undergraduate Biology Teaching, University of Oxford

In Queen Palm, internationally-published poet Nancy Anne Miller takes readers on a captivating journey into the rich iconography and metaphors of the Christmas season. Through four distinct sections, Miller explores the unique blend of African/English influences found in Bermudian customs, the vibrant and sometimes extravagant American celebrations, the symbolism of Advent, and the poet's personal creative process. The book concludes with a thought-provoking selection of Biblically-inspired poems.While delving into the exploration of language and imagery, the poems also carry a spiritual undertone, inviting readers to embark on both a poetic inquiry and a sacred quest. Queen Palm celebrates the power of Christmas as a transformative and introspective time, where the boundaries of poetry and spirituality merge seamlessly.

York Literary Review is an annual creative writing anthology designed to showcase diverse work from talented writers. Since its inception in 2016, the review has featured trailblazing fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and prose.This year's beautiful collection of writing includes thirty-five talented authors from around the world, who have responded to the theme of 'voices' with pieces including a diverse range of subjects, such as voices from the past, the voice of trees, and absence of voice.* * *"The world of the twenty-first century, awash with social media and 24-hour newsreels, is bombarded by voices, all vying for attention, a colossal storm of endless communication. It is easy to get lost. To have your voice subsumed by countless others. The anthology's theme grew out of this concern but manifested in other wonderful ways too ... There are personal memoirs. There are voices within landscapes. There are ruminations on how voice connects to personal identity. This year's anthology contains creative writing of great power and significance. I congratulate the team and thank the contributors for giving us their voices. We are all the better for it!"- Dr Rob O'Connor

Beginnings & Other Tragedies is a powerful book-length poem, offering a choral experience of a present-future where almost all hope seems lost - except for that offered by poetry itself, and the "beginners" who care about our planet and dream of making a change. In the background, the landscape of Venice, the sinking city.Drawing on nature poetry, dystopian fiction and Greek tragedy, Ilaria Boffa reimagines scientific and ecological language as sites of beauty, with the power to change reality; seen here as something malleable and unstable, to be made and remade. Published in a bilingual English/Italian edition, with both texts written by the original poet, readers are offered a rare opportunity to compare the two languages at their absolute best.Through confronting the most painful, discomforting parts of the world and ourselves, Boffa reminds us why "it's good to think difficult things", and why it may be time to repurpose ourselves and start again - a call-to-action which murmurs in our ears both as we read and long after we set the book down.

A beautifully-woven memoir that captures the essence of growing up as the child of 'Ten Pound Poms' in Australia.

Some stories will do anything to get your attention...

Amanda Nigh has finally hit her stride. Working at HocusLocus, she recrafts digital content with viral potential while beta-testing radical new software and enjoying London nightlife. But then she discovers a strange story involving Craig Merleau, an American ice hockey player who talks like a European philosopher, inexplicably propelling his team to victory with his cerebral pronouncements.As she is drawn into his philosophical and physical orbit, the world is threatened by a subatomic virus that affects computers and humans in bizarre ways. While the global networks run amok and everyone struggles with quantum superposition and gravity quakes, two people remain blissfully untouched: Amanda and Craig.As Amanda enlists Craig to avert technological and biological Armageddon, she faces a disturbing question: is the end really Amanda Nigh?

Twenty-three-year-old Lillie Carrigan has left behind the America of her childhood to study at Oxford, dismissing her past as she tries to write and become a woman. In the autumn of 1946, she meets a man over whiskey and cigarettes at Balliol College - a man who will become her husband. Over the course of five years, Lillie travels from England to Paris, the Côte d'Azur, New York City and the Hamptons, her marriage unravelling along the way but her memories remaining steadfast as her uninvited yet constant companions. Haunted by past tragedies and scarred by fresh misadventures, Lillie once again shares her story and lays bare her sins.'An intimate character study and honest portrait of a marriage, this sequel, with its eloquent prose and sharp dialogue, does not disappoint.' - J.M. Monaco, author of How We Remember 'A forensic portrait of post-war marriage. In prose that never drops a stitch, Susan Furber has delivered another triumph in this insightful, moving and utterly compelling novel.' - Christine Dwyer Hickey, 2020 Walter Scott Prize winner'We Were Very Merry tells the story of a modern marriage in which no one is at fault since no one appears to have done anything wrong. The attempts to make one's self intelligible to another reveal the grief and regret inherent in the past, and despite a well-earned resolution, the exorbitant price of perception.' - Susanna Moore, author of In the Cut

Narratives of the body are versatile ¿ and From the Body demonstrates this.Here, there are confessions, recollections, and love letters, all dealing with topics as wide-reaching as eating disorders, disability, and gender dysphoria. In this collection of personal essays and creative nonfiction, its contributors have responded to food and the body in intimate but universal ways, sharing experiences that will resonate with readers.Featuring the award-winning poet Andrew McMillan and dedicated mental health campaigner Cara Lisette, From the Body is a tender and honest discussion of how we feed and fuel our bodies ¿ and how we may, in time, come to treat them a little kinder.

"One eveningwhen they are sitting quietly togethershe breaks the silenceand starts to talk"Dorothy tells the complete story of a Yorkshire woman, in verse, from her birth early in the last century to her death in the first years of this. Like so many of her generation, she lived a life both ordinary and extraordinary; shaded by grief, troubled by family dynamics, and restricted by the realities of class, location and gender. Hers was a life where survival itself, the simple act of continuing, was a victory to be celebrated - but one where the reminders of why we continue, the blinding moments of sunshine when the clouds part, were that much sweeter because of it.Tender and insightful, harrowing and uplifting, Dorothy is a stunning act of empathy from a son towards his mother. Her story, told through the author's assured, unpretentious verse, is both specific and universal enough to resonate with all who encounter it; to challenge some, heal others, and leave a lasting impression on the world Dorothy came to love.

With his first collection, Matt Riker takes us on a journey where we cannot be sure if we're awake or dreaming - if what we perceive is real or imagined. Circling love and family, nature and society, science and mythology, these poems bring both the surprising and the miraculous into sharp focus. But like words, all things are subject to change - some are lost, others gained. Riker looks inwards and outwards, to distant places and times, to the essence of consciousness. In poems both personal and philosophical, the intimate and the cerebral are entwined with the richness and ambiguity of existence.

Inside is a book that lives and breathes in its confinement.It places a brief account of the patients of a hospital assessment ward (catering to those in the process of being diagnosed with dementia) in contrast to the inmates of a broad spectrum of prisons.Holding these strands together is the voice of a single poet who doesn¿t hold back from telling it as it is.In sharply observed and pointed language, the whole carries a message for politicians and the public alike.

Longlisted for the 2023 Laurel Prize and Highly Commended in the 2023 Forward PrizesIn 1992, a group of young people began to protest against the extension of the M3 motorway through Twyford Down outside Winchester - a new road that would, by the hands of the Conservative government, cut seven minutes off the journey time between London and Southampton, whilst carving through the chalk hill in one of England's 'protected' Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Dongas Tribe, as they would later be known, named after the Matabele word for 'gully', radically altered the UK environmental movement, lauded by the Guardian as having 'kickstarted a major shift in green attitudes in both government and the public.' Twyford Down became a symbol for a further 1,000 protected heritage sites across the UK which were planned to undergo the same process, removing idiosyncrasy from the landscape and presenting an ideal for a country based on mobility and so-called 'progress'. Emma Must was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her efforts towards land protection, including a period of detention in Holloway Prison as one of the 'Twyford Seven'. Must's searing collection, published 30 years after the Twyford protests, considers the role that language plays as witness to our actions on Earth. These powerful, moving and honest depictions of the Twyford protests explore the ways in which language reaches us, saves us, and fails to convince us. Here, the land reveals its histories to the reader, whilst protest actions entwine themselves around judicial statements, teetering between the active and passive voice, the human and non-human.* * *Royalties from each sale of this book will be donated to Transport Action Network and the A36/A350 Corridor Alliance.