You might have noticed things have been a little quiet here recently. This has been by design, I try not to flood people with my every move but since October, I’ve had my nose to the grindstone, performing as a poet, writing, editing and setting a whole string of releases in to motion.
Over the next few months, we have an unbelievable line-up joininng our already fabulous roster. Most of them are secret just this very minute though, so I can’t reveal many names.
First up, dropping her debut collection “Lambs with Manes of Lions” is Laura Kestrel. Laura comes to us from Cornwall by way of the killer Canterbury scene, where she made her mark. As I read her collection what struck me first was the astonishing sense of rhythm (in a previous life I was a drummer, it’s what I do), everything between the covers has been carefully chosen and refined. What struck me next was the soul of the work, throughout Laura’s work, I am confronted by a beating heart beneath an eggshell skin. There is affirmations of recovery and of self-worth mixed with melancholy and the hint, sometimes explicit, sense of loss. Ultimately though, the poems are triumphant, bold and defiant. A testament to the strength and resolve of the writer and of other young women, who bounce back after adversity and prove that though they may appear as delicate lambs, they wield manes of lions and all the power that comes with them.
Lambs with Manes of Lions is due out August 25th, through Whisky & Beards Publishing. Preorder links coming soon.