“Martin Wakefield’s ravishing sequence of ‘Emptpy Poems’ is elegant, spare and haunting. And haunted. The spectral traces of Apollinaire’s poems are still just visible beneath Wakefield’s enigmatic creation. There seems to be a strange attraction between the poems on the surface and the ghost poems beneath such that, in places, the surface poems shiver into italics to mirror the font change of the trace poems. Sometimes this becomes an ‘interference’ caused by the spectral poems, mysteriously pushing at words within the poems above, or pulling them into new spellings, compressions and splittings. This resonates powerfully with the operations of the mind itself and how it responds to the energies and interruptions of its memories, its subconscious, and its physical embodiment, as well as reflecting on the way all language is similarly shaped and inhabited by ghosts.” — Susie Campbell
Inspired directly by Monet’s sublime series of paintings of the façade of Rouen Cathedral, Sleeth has composed thirty new haiku on the subject to accompany a selection of his numerous paintings and ‘pola-paintings’ of ‘Notre Dame de Rouen’. This limited edition chapbook, published in an ongoing collaboration with Sampson Low, marks a chapter in a body of work which Sleeth will present to the public in a series of exhibitions starting in 2023…
Rouen 30 haiku and artworks Wayne Sleeth Published November 2022 ISBN 978-1-915505-13-2 A6 Size 16 printed pages Colour Chapbook 46 SLB0226 Price – £2.80 BUY Rouen (£2.80 + £1.20 P&P)
Anglo-french artist and writer Wayne Sleeth has since 2018 been painting, sketching, photographing (with a battery of polaroid cameras) and writing haiku about the Cathédrale de Rouen, an iconic presence since the Middle Ages, especially for Sleeth’s mentor in art—the impressionist Claude Monet.
This anthology is published to coincide with the Urban Tree Festival in May 2022. The pieces included were selected from over 100+ entries to a competition run in Spring 2022. Entrants were asked to write about “Healing Trees” as poems or stories in 250 words or fewer.
The theme of “Healing Trees” was set by our previous winners: Chris Cuninghame for poetry and Sarah Wheeler for prose. They chose the theme as they felt it was pertinent to these challenging times and wanted entrants to reveal “the power of trees to heal themselves and us, to contribute to well-being and to sustain ecosystems.”
They also volunteered to be judges in this year’s competition, joined on the poetry side by Anita Roy, writer, editor and environmentalist, and on the prose side by N.G. Bristow, a screen writer, director and visual artist, rooted at Goldsmiths University of London, where he runs the MA in Directing Fiction.
Canopy 3 An Anthology of Writing for the Urban Tree Festival 2022 Nancy Charley, Sally Duffin, M.L. Grieve, Daniel Harwood, Gina Headden, Jude Higgins, Rosaleen Lynch, Cheryl Markosky, Jackie Morrison, Sara Stegen, Laurence Sullivan and Joanna Wolfarth Published May 2022 ISBN 978-1-915505-07-1 A6 Size 24 printed pages Colour Museum of Walking Chapbook 12 SLB0220 Price – £4.99 BUY Canopy 3 (£4.99 + £1.20 P&P)
Iain Britton is an Aotearoa New Zealand poet and author of several poetry collections. His work has been nominated in the UK for a Forward Prize for Best Single Poem and Best First Collection. Poems have been published or are forthcoming in Harvard Review, Poetry, The New York Times, Poet Lore, Wild Court, Molly Bloom, New Humanist, The Scores Journal, Stand, Agenda, New Statesman, Prototype, Poetry Birmingham, Blackbox Manifold, and Poetry Wales. THE INTAGLIO POEMS was published by Hesterglock Press (UK) 2017.
PROJECT CONSTELLATION Iain Britton Published February 2022 ISBN 978-1-912960-90-3 A6 Size 20 printed pages Colour Chapbook 45 SLB0203 Print run of 100 Price – £2.99 BUY PROJECT CONSTELLATION (£2.99 + £1.20 P & P)
Sarah Hill Wheeler was the Short Story Winner of the Urban Tree Festival 2021 writing competition made possible through support from the Mayor of London. As well as becoming the Story Writer-in-Residence for the Urban Tree Festival 2022, Sarah also won the opportunity to create a limited edition chapbook; hence this beautiful collection of stories, Hen Story, was born. Filled with precise observations of life at its most precarious, these flash fictions explore genesis, evolution and hope. Hen Story is a fabulous collection with a breathable, fragile shell and a rich yoked heart. You’ll want to crack it open over and again.
HENSTORY Sarah Hill Wheeler Published January 2022 ISBN 978-1-912960-85-9 A6 Size 20 printed pages Colour Museum of Walking Chapbook 9 SLB0198 Print run of 100 Price – £2.60 BUY HENSTORY (£2.60 + £1.20 P&P)
Christopher Cuninghame was the Poetry Winner of the Urban Tree Festival 2021 writing competition made possible through support from the Mayor of London. As well as becoming the Poetry Writer-in-Residence for the Urban Tree Festival 2022, Christopher also won the opportunity to create a limited edition chapbook; resulting in this wonderful collection of poems, Small Change. Casting a careful eye over the subtle shades of time’s movements over the natural world and the relationships within it, Small Change is an elegant collection reminding us to look and look again at what surrounds us.
SMALL CHANGE Christopher Cuninghame Published January 2022 ISBN 978-1-912960-88-0 A6 Size 16 printed pages Colour Museum of Walking Chapbook 11 SLB0201 Print run of 100 Price – £2.60 BUY SMALL CHANGE (£2.60 + £1.20 P&P)
Discover the homes and lives of 1930s musicians who lived and worked in and around Lewisham, Brockley and New Cross. This book contains a map and short biographies, from famous residents to more forgotten names.
1. Alexander Gifford (piano/organ) – 25 Granville Park, Blackheath, SE13 7DY 2.Cyril Cyphus (organ) – 16 Belmont Grove, Blackheath, SE13 5DW 3.Frederick Dumayne (singer/conductor) – 46 Caterham Rd, Blackheath, SE13 5AR 4.Les Perry (flute/bandleader) – 55 Lee High Rd, SE13 5NS 5.Gaumont Palace – Junction of Molesworth Street and Rennell Street, SE13 6.Freddie Finch (trumpet) – 18 Jerrard St, Lewisham SE13 7TA 7.Stanley Stray (piano) – 28 Sandrock Rd, Lewisham, SE13 7TS 8.Franklyn White (violin) – 66 Loampit Hill Lewisham, SE13 7SX 9.Arthur Kipps (organ) – 3 Darling Rd, SE4 1YQ 10.Art Jennings (saxophone) – 26A Tressillian Rd, SE4 1YB 11. Walter Stiasny (conductor) and Sylvia Patriss (vocalist) – 55 Tressillian Rd, London SE4 1YA 12.Edward Swingler (flute) – 94 Tressillian Rd, SE4 1YD 13.Peter Wise (accordion) – 80 Wickham Rd, Brockley, SE4 1LS 14.William Lodge (saxophone/violin) – 81 Millmark Grove, Brockley, SE14 6RH 15.Stanley Van Raalte (piano) – 102 St Donatts Rd, SE14 6NT 16.Goldsmiths Music Studios – 286 New Cross Road, SE14 6AF 17.Steve Gauna (guitar) – 21 Jerningham Rd, New Cross, SE14 5NQ 18.New Cross Kinema – 325-327 New Cross Road, SE14 6JP 19.New Cross Empire – 483-485 New Cross Road, SE14 6TQ
The names and addresses of musicians in this book have been sourced from 1930s Musician’s Union handbooks. Every effort has been made to research and verify information and we are grateful to those experts who have helped in the making of this series. If you know any additional information or corrections then we would love to include them in future editions.
Alban Low is a London-based artist. He co-hosts The Vinyl Thread on Radio Nope, and is artist-in-residence on the radio programme A World in London. www.albanlow.com
Thank you to M.G. Thomas; The National Jazz Archives; Melody Maker; NME; The British Newspaper Archives; The National Archives; BBC; the team at A World In London (DJ Ritu, Sophie Darling, Lucas Keen); Radio Nope (Bob, Conan, Deb & Brian); Norman and Tom Druker; George, Maggie and Felix; and my wife Natalie.
Robots stagger from oil bars Back to ships to cast off, Headed out to Mars and stars… Three, two, one — and blast off!
Robots and Rockets Poems of Science Fiction Geoffrey A. Landis, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Robert Laughlin, Robin Helweg-Larsen, Bruce McGuffin, Maryann Corbett, Nina Parmenter, F.J. Bergmann, Marcus Bales, A.E. Stallings, Julia Griffin and Martin Elster Published April 2021 Series Editor Robin Helweg-Larsen Illustrated by Alban Low ISBN 978-1-912960-68-2 A6 Size 16 printed pages Colour Potcake Chapbook 9 SLB181 Print run of 250 Price – £2.60 BUY Robots and Rockets to a UK address (£2.60 + £1.20 P&P) BUY Robots and Rockets to a non-UK address (£2.60 + £2.20 P&P)
The “Potcake Chapbook” series is named for the dogs of the Bahamas and the Caribbean – strays that live off the burnt scrapings of cooking pots. The poems in the series are a mixed bunch – but the potcake of our logo wears a bow tie to show that he and all the poems are formal. These poems are memorable in part because they rhyme and scan, as all truly memorable poetry does. We subscribe to the use of form, no matter how formless the times in which we live.
“The idea for this book, and those to follow, came about when my brother was diagnosed with what was to be a short terminal illness. It was one of those times in life where there was very little I could do to help, and yet I wanted him to feel my love and support. So I collected together photos I’d taken and paired them with a mindful word to produce a small book. My intention was to provide him with a creative resource as he faced such uncertainty in his life. And to let him know I was holding him in mind at times when I couldn’t physically be there with him. Sadly, his cancer progressed so rapidly, he never saw the book.” Amanda McLellan 7daybooks.co.uk
‘7 Days of Being’ came about to explore the essence of ‘being’. The book is simply a suggestion. By using the images and words, can they resource you in to truly ‘being’ instead of ‘doing’? Can they connect you with breath so you can be most present in your life? Do they help you feel more relaxed and aware? Can they go some way to easing and improving anxiety and depression? Can they make you smile?
7 Days of Being Mindful images for wellbeing Amanda McLellan Published March 2021 ISBN 9781912960668 Typography by Stephen Hand A6 Size 16 printed pages Colour Chapbook 44 SLB0179 Print run of 100 Price – £2.60 BUY 7 Days of Being (£2.60 + £1.20 P&P)
Microsporidial is a meditation on the impact of an Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection in Briony’s companion animal, Honey. E- cuniculi is a protozoan parasite which primarily affects the brain and spinal cord of rabbits, resulting in head-tilt, paralysis, hind-leg paresis, tremors, cataracts and renal failure. On 13/12/2019 Honey rapidly declined, could no longer stand by herself, and Briony and her partner Laura were told to prepare to put her to sleep.
Within 32 hours, supported by a dedicated veterinary team and against all odds, Honey managed to regulate her body, stand up when rolling over, keep her digestive tract moving, and eventually return home. This collection of micropoems explores the intimacies between a range of bodies – animal, human, parasite and water.
Sampson Low 