Crocus is the publishing imprint of Commonword and Cultureword. Crocus publishes Commonword's anthologies and the winners of our writing competitions. We have run competitions in the areas of poetry, short stories and novels. We have also from time to time called for submissions from writers on various themes. Those submissions selected by the editors get published in the anthologies.
Our paperback publications reflect the diverse talents of North West writers - and bring those talents to a national audience.
Crocus books are available from bookshops, can be found on amazon.co.uk or can be ordered directly from Commonword.
As the globe shrinks, modern armed conflict, natural disasters and global economic imbalances have had their impact on every nation of the world, including Britain.
In Migration Stories sixteen writers from a broad range of backgrounds have told sixteen short stories - stories that startle, inform and engage.
Migration stories is a fantastic collection of short fiction that gets right under the skin of the experience and what it means for individuals. It tells stories that are rarely heard, whether they be set inside a grotty bedsit, a container making its way to the UK, or a dance class offering an emotional outlet to a person cut off from their family ties. The stories in this book are shocking and matter of fact at the same time: they do not over dramatise migration, but tell it how it is, with frequent moments of brutality and oppression, particularly by those who hold the purse strings, such as The Undertaker or the wealthy Afghan, Khan Mohammad and his men. The themes that lift the tone of the book are the triumph of the capacity to survive and the ability for the protagonists to hope for better things to come. These have been the motivations for migrations for a long time, but are brought to life in this collection. A memorable phrase stands out for me from Martin De Mello's story: the protagonist says 'In the land of crocodiles you must act like a crocodile' in a seedy nightclub watching a woman dance for the audience. Within the covers of this book the migrants frequently to try and work out who to trust and who might be lurking under the surface of the water.
Anne Caldwell
Migration Stories:
180 pages
£5.99
ISBN 9780946745234
all enquiries crocus@cultureword.org.uk
The Seamstress and the Global Garment
by Maya Chowdhry
Pub date: October 2009
"Maya Chowdhry's voice springs directly from the soul. It is authentic, sensuous and urgent. Although dreamlike, her poems are not vague. They rankle with precision and are fuellled by the collision of colonial and family history. Anger gives way to the generosity of love and the open heart of humour." Sarah Hymas, Flax
"Chowdhry's poems are uniquely alive to the possibilities of multiple identities, fused mother tongues and the interweaving of myths." Saradha Soobrayen Chroma Journal
Maya was born in Edinburgh and grew up on the Fife coast; basking on barnacled rocks in an orange swimsuit. She journeyed the kala pani; circling to Scottish shores.
ISBN: 9780946745289
Price: £5
Publication Date: 17/10/2009
Publicity enquiries: admin@cultureword.org.uk
or tel 0161 832 3777
You can order copies of The Seamstress and the Global Garment @ £5.50 (includes post and package) by sending a cheque/postal order made payable to Commonword to: Commonword, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
Praise Songs For Aliens
by Segun Lee-French
Pub date: October 2009
" Segun sees and hears the poetry in market places that are full of the youth of fruit and the age of enamel plates, serenaded by tacit melodies humming in a kerosene lamp. He makes ballads of childhood yearnings in Manchester, of coming of age in Nigeria, of lessons learned in Cuba, of black angels whose lives were shortened by the long arm of the law. He plants all of these thoughts and feelings in the solid ground of reality. And then lets his words grow tall and strong into magical song. "
Kevin Le Gendre, London, 2009.
Nigerian Mancunian Segun has worked as a pot washer, cleaner, pop singer, jazz dancer, telephonist, newspaper vendor, poet, playwright, post worker, waiter, club promoter and community activist. Segun’s poetry questions assumptions of what means to be British, playfully contrasting his Yoruba roots with his Mancunian upbringing.
ISBN: 9780946745333
Price: £5
Publication Date: 17/10/2009
Publicity enquiries: admin@cultureword.org.uk
or tel 0161 832 3777
You can order copies of Praise Songs For Aliens @ £5.50 (includes post and package) by sending a cheque/postal order made payable to Commonword to: Commonword, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
City of Lists
by Brigid Rose
Pub Date: March 2009
City Of Lists
An unusual love story set in a dystopian future
Neeve meets silent Valentine at her Work Unit. A tentative friendship develops between them and together they summon the courage to leave the regimen of the Sixth Compound. Then Lol, unrepentant law-breaker and member of the underground movement, blasts into their lives and their friendship takes a path none of them could have forseen.
Combining dystopian nightmare with a touching love story, The City Of Lists is an assured debut novel that sensitively explores the dilemma between toeing the line and breaking the rules.
“The perception is true, the characters real, the writing clear as new glass.” (George Green, Transworld author of the acclaimed Hawk novel).
'A gripping, suspenseful read’ (Jeff Foster, author of Beyond Awakening),
'A mesmerising read’ (Cath Staincliffe).
BRIGID ROSE is a writer and artist living in Todmorden. She has previously had short stories published in several magazines and anthologies. She is a keen reader of the writings of Eckhard Tolle and tries to bring spiritual and philosophical issues into her narratives.
Hat Check Boy Mike Duff
The Hat Check Boy is a moving and tragic comedy of errors – it shows us a man against life’s ropes, clinging on for the one knock-out blow that will transform him from loser to champ.
Praise for Mike Duff’s first novel, Low Life:
‘punchy, brash and funny’ - The Guardian
‘It's very fast and very funny, richocheting between caustic social comment and moments of real tenderness.’ - City Life
You can order copies of The Hat Check Boy @ £7.99 (includes free post and package) by sending a cheque/postal order made payable to Commonword Ltd to: Commonword, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
Poems from a Northern Soul
John Siddique
Through poignant homecomings, cinematic street scenes and candid portraits, John Siddique constantly reminds us of human vulnerability, of the short chains that anchor us in this turbulent world. Many of the poems take us to an edge, both physical and emotional, and leave us there to contemplate the view.
You can order copies of Poems from a Northern Soul @ £6.95 (includes free post and package) by sending a cheque/postal order made payable to Commonword Ltd to: Commonword, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
Bitch Lit
A smart and subversive celebration of female anti-heroes.
Edited by Maya Chowdhry & Mary Sharratt
Bitch Lit features women who take the law into their own hands, who defy society's expectations, put their own needs first and don't feel guilty. Characters that give Lady Macbeth, Imelda Marcos and Narnia’s Snow Queen a run for their money. All these stories, in one way or another, are tales of women and power. They goad us and dare us to strip off our niceness, leave our safe haven, and go out into the dark woods knowing that the most dangerously sublime thing to be encountered in that forest is ourselves unleashed.
Contributors include Sophie Hannah, Elizabeth Baines, Cath Staincliffe, Sherry Ashworth, Rosie Lugosi, Char March and Jo Stanley.
You can order copies of Bitch Lit @ £8.99 (includes free post and package) by sending a cheque/postal order made payable to Commonword Ltd to: Commonword, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
Knee High Affairs
Michelle Green
Michelle Green was the winner of the North West Regional Slam Championship in 2005. She regularly performs her particular brand of social soul poetry at live events across the UK. Her poems and short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies, publications and radio shows, including the Bitch Lit and City Secrets anthologies published by Crocus. Following years of home-based ‘zine production, this is her first collection of poems.
ISBN 094674582X
Price: £5
Publication date: 1st September 2006
You can order copies of Knee High Affairs @ £5 (includes free post and package) by sending a cheque/postal order made payable to Commonword Ltd to: Commonword, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
Transparency
This anthology, edited by John Siddique, brings together thirteen talented poets from the Commonword stable. Witty and brutal observations of rogue therapists and unhealthy relationships are interspersed with love poems and spiritual contemplation. What these poets share is the ability to articulate emotions in language you can taste long after you’ve finished reading.
Transparency features the work of: Suzanne Batty, Steve O’Connor, Jackie Hagan, Almira Holmes, Sonia Hughes, Hannah Kate, Olga Kenyon, Segun Lee-French, Rosie Lugosi, Martin De Mello, John Siddique, Alan Spencer and Jan Whalen.
You can order copies of Transparency @ £5.99 (includes free post and package) by sending a cheque/postal order made payable to Commonword Ltd to: Commonword, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS.
Preview
"During 2005 poet John Siddique became Commonword's first poet in residence and worked as mentor to a group of writers. The result is this new collection of poetry, Transparency (£5.99 Crocus), featuring thirteen Commonword poets, some recognisable from the performance poetry scene amongst other, less familiar names.
The title, Siddique explains in the introduction, was chosen because the collection presents 'poetry that provides a window to the life within' in a style which doesn't seek to confuse, but rather to reveal.
Certainly, it's an accessible collection, a short, compact book featuring two or three poems by each writer, just enough to engage, not enough to swamp.
Relationships are a rich mine of material: The book opens with Hannah Kate's 'Dinner', evoking an unappetising date at a curry house, Steve O'Connor's 'Love Manifests' shows how emotions reveals themselves and uncover truths about the lover, too: 'My love manifests as/wanting you never to die./ You're the first to make me feel that way./Normally I'd imagine myself/clinging to the grave./trying my worst to look enigmatic.' And in Rosie Lugosi's 'The New Semaphore' a fearful partner tries to interpret the new meaning behind the old signals: 'Hands making the right/moves, but worked by pulley; invisible ropes.'
The relationship with the self is explored in Suzanne Batty's emotive 'Paper Baby' and Jackie Hagan's 'Therapist' ('he has a face like a raised eyebrow'), whilst the collection is given a sense of escapism in Jan Whalen's melodious and tranquil 'Harbour of Grace' and in Sonia Hughes' fable-like 'Hansel'.
Varied and inventive in style and subject matter, this collection might be slim, and even 'transparent', but it's also substantial, a valuable window into the value of Commonword's continued encouragement of creative writing in the city."
NICOLA MOSTYN, City Life
A Touch of the Sun
David Evans A Touch of the Sun is a jolting ride through the back streets of apartheid South Africa. Simon Brown is obsessed with sex and social climbing, he is embarrassed by his mother's easy way with the local Coloureds and appalled by his school friend's ambition to join the hard core Special Branch. From stuck-up beauty, Elizabeth Carter, to Thandi, the fiery young daughter of the family maid, he keeps falling for the wrong girl. As a cub reporter on the local rag, Simon finds himself propelled into the frontline of conflict. When the government declares a State of Emergency and family secrets threaten to undo him, Simon is forced to choose: preserve his white privileges or turn law breaker?
Reviews of A Touch of the Sun
‘Avoiding all clichés of heroism, all easy romanticism of the struggle against injustice and oppression, Evans shows us a politics rooted in the mess and muddle of life, political activists who are not saints but flawed, passionate, suffering human beings.
Evans gripping story, dramatic as a thriller in its dénouement, confronts the reader with questions about our own capacity for honesty, for moral and physical courage, for commitment. His Simon Brown is a real and sympathetic hero.’ Michèle Roberts, The Indepenant
‘Even without the frontline insight into apartheid and the underground resistance, this would be an absorbing read. It’s packed with vividly drawn, complex characters and it superbly captures the tensions in a small town simmering with racial and sexual passions. By mixing the fast-paced excitement of a political thriller with the gradual enlightenment of a coming-of-age story, Evans has created a distinctive, memorable and highly recommended novel.’ Sarah Tierney, City Life
'The sense of place, the sense of time, the honesty and the messy humanity - I loved it all! A reminder of Orwell at his best.' Jimmy McGovern (TV script writer)
'A novel of rare distinction: terse, eloquent, fiercely honest and compelling to read.' Barry Unsworth (Booker prize winning author of Sacred Hunger)
ISBN: 0946745676
Price £8.99
Publication Date: 1st April 2005
Crafting the Practice
Dike Omeje
Dike Omeje is a highly original wordsmith and Slam Champion. His performances are by turns mesmerising; his audience are first destabilised, then swept into the flow of the poems by the sheer rhuthmical force and unexpected sharp metaphors. This is your chance to see his work in print!
Purple Mother
Pauline Omoboye
Pauline Omoboye has been published in many anthologies as well as in the local press. She has appeared on radio, TV and in many theatres and schools throughout the region. This is the first solo publication of her stunning poems.
Out of Place
Lois Keith
In Vienna 1938, four year old Eva is too young to understand that her life is in danger from the Nazi 'euthanasia' programme. Pretty, full of life and with her odd, ungainly walk, her only chance of escape is with Susi, the daughter of her family's Jewish employers.
She arrives on the Kindertransport with a borrowed identity and a trusting nature but is greeted with England's own response to a disabled child. Eva's story is one of enduring love, family secrets and her search for a place in the world.
Out of Place is a remarkable and compassionate novel with an unforgettable cast of characters. Lois Keith deftly explores a forgotten part of twentieth century history.
"In some senses, this is obviously an 'issues' book which is intended to make you think about your attitude towards disabled people. But forget earnest, good-for-you literature. This is an enjoyable, involving story you won't want to put down. It might not even register on the radar of the Booker judges, but this is a superb, intelligent novel from a writer with a real sense of purpose."
Steven Waling, City Life
ISBN 0 946745 47 1
Price £7.99
Published June 2003
