Bøger udgivet af Valley Press

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.

'Only the core of her left -a memory of being whole.I keep her upon my bookshelf,hold her neat within my hand,reminded of the life in stone.'Jo Reed's encounter with the original 'Stone Venus', entangled amongst seaweed on a Corfu beach, was the source of much inspiration, creativity and comfort to the lifelong artist. Now, it has become the seed of her first collection of poetry; a collection you could soon be holding in your outstretched hand, much like Jo held 'Venus' herself on that cold morning.The poet demonstrates a fascination with objects - as well as people, memories and places - throughout this moving, delicately-crafted debut, which inhabits them, transports them to decades past, then brings them back into the present with a series of skillful literary flourishes. This is writing to touch, inspire and astonish any reader - even those made of stone."Poems which show due care for the reader, often capable of a startling justness of phrase or rhythm...an attentiveness to both art and experience."W.N. Herbert"Even if I didn't know, I'd be able to tell the poems were written by a visual artist; like a stained glass with each bit showing a different part of [Jo's] life. Lovely."Pauline Plummer'Afterthought'If she had known she would sleep alonein her borrowed marriage bed,she'd have packed that life in a suitcase,she'd have hitch-hiked to Brighton instead.Jo Reed was born near Durham in 1941. She spent her childhood moving up and down the East Coast, from Northumbria to Norfolk, before arriving in Soho, London in the 1960s. She later lived in rural Surrey and Lincolnshire, before settling in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, at the turn of the century. She has worked as an illustrator, printmaker and teacher, and has had her art exhibited widely in one-woman shows from Athens to Buenos Aires, as well as in London.

A unique collection of drawings, paintings and photographs made from the artist's own hair, telling a powerful story about the female experience.

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.