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Poetry

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.


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.

Peace Poems
Seventy five poems by fifty three poets
And meditations on peace from famous people including: Albert Camus, Albert Einstein, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Mother Theresa…

edited by Pete Kalu, Graeme Kenna & Shamshad Khan

Escape to an oasis of calm with Peace Poems. An uplifting and timely collection of seventy five peace poems by fifty three living poets, interspersed with peace quotes by famous people from Mahatma Gandhi to John Lennon to Jimi Hendrix. Peace Poems is edited by the poets, Pete Kalu, Graeme Kenna and Shamshad Khan.

It features a wide range of styles because the poems are as diverse and unusual as the people who wrote them. The collection is for anyone in search of peace - be it an end to arms or a state of mind. Its oasis of calm reflection offers a cool respite from today's heated, hectic society. Peace Poems - take it with you, wherever you go.

'When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.'
-Jimi Hendrix

'All works of love are works of peace.'
-Mother Theresa

'Peace is not just the absence of war, as the current climate of sabre-rattling reminds us. The new anthology from Crocus, simply entitled Peace Poems, has landed just in time to be up-to-date. In fact, according to Cathy Bolton of Commonword/Crocus, it was originally conceived three years ago as a book of modern war poems, but became a collection exploring the whole theme of peace in the modern world.
Though they were collecting poems before 11 September, that horrible event gave added impetus to the project. In fact, though there are several poems that refer to those tragic events, it isn't dominated by it. Peace is found everywhere: in Whalley Abbey, in a walk on the grass and even in Levenshulme. According to editor Pete Kalu, the anthology is meant to be "a balm and an inspiration for headlong crazy days," and it is certainly that.
Interspersed among the poems are little quotes from such luminaries as Mother Theresa, Buddha, and even Jimmy Hendrix. There are enigmatic poems, such as Shamshad Khan's abandon thought: watch clouds drift/know what drifting is, moving personal poems like Tariq Latif's Star Matter, and angry responses like Phil Burton's Atrabilous. Not all the poems work: but enough of them do to make this a very engaging collection, one that I think Crocus Books should be very proud to have achieved. Not only that, they trumped Faber, and the poet Laureate, whose 101 Poems Against War isn't a patch on this one.'
Steve Waling, City Life

Girl in the Iron Lung
Pat Winslow

In this collection, Pat Winslow gives voice to the casualties of waiting lists and Spanish Flu, an institutionalised psychiatric patient relearning the Green Cross Code and the girl exploring space in an iron lung. Sepia portraits from hospital archives are brought vividly to life as she uses surgeon like precision to expose the secrets, fears and dreams of people confronting their own mortality. The poems all draw on her experience of working as writer in residence in North Manchester Hospital.

ISBN 0 946745 52 8
Price £3.50
Published: June 2003


A Crocus Selection
Edited by Matthew Sweeney
A dual format, text and braille collection bringing together some of the strong and varied voices that have helped shape the North West and national poetry scenes, including poems by Sophie Hannah, Lemn Sissay and Jean Sprackland. Published in collaboration with the National Library for the Blind. The poems, selected by Matthew Sweeney, touch on love, identity and personal rebellion, providing the reader with a fresh look and fresh listen to the world we live in.
'All thirteen poems are sure to evoke their readers' experiences, sharpen their awareness and leave them with some enduring images - and uncertainties. If the aim, as the preface states, is to whet the appetite for more poetry, then this collection must surely do that.'
Disability Times
ISBN 0-946745-27-7
£2.50
Published 2000

Healing Strategies for Women at War
Poetry by SuAndi, Trudy Blake, Maya Chowdhry, Shamshad Khan, Marie Guise Williams, Seni Seneviratne & Tang Lin
These bold, contemporary voices are conscious of their cultural roots yet simultaneously rejoice in the flex and flux of life on the cusp of a new millennium.
'Poignant, exuberant, funny, pensive, haunting and extremely thought-provoking.'
Valerie Bloom
'Mouth wateringly fresh poems from seven women poets with vibrant, resounding and resilient voices.'
Kadija Sesay
ISBN 0-946745-86-2
£6.95
Published 1999

Nailing Colours
Poems of rebellion
A wake up call for the twenty first century, Nailing Colours brings together eighty of the most talented and radical of contemporary voices, including SuAndi, David Bateman, Maya Chowdhry, Kevin Fegan, Rosie Lugosi, John Lyons, Cheryl Martin and Henry Normal. They show their colours with passion and caustic wit as they advocate personal and political revolutions.
'There's no sitting on the fence here - these poets are not afraid to voice their opinions, however unpopular, and they do so with great skill and assurance.'
Hilary Wainwright, Red Pepper
ISBN 0-946745-61-7
£7.50
Published 1997

Crocus Five Women Poets
Barbara Bentley, Marguerite Gazeley, Frances Nagle, Sheila Parry & Pat Winslow
Lovers of poetry will welcome the discovery of these five North West Poets.
'Here are poems that tackle everything from domestic chores to international politics with grace, wit and assurance.'
City Life
ISBN 0-946745-16-1
£5.95
Published 1993

The Delicious Lie
Georgina Blake
'Georgina Blake is a very talented poet. Her work is illuminated by a fine intelligence, a clever wit and a warm heart. She writes so eloquently about the feelings we all have but cannot articulate.'
Sue Townsend
'What a wonderful, wonderful slice of love and life this is. A gorgeous, scrumptious piece of poetic justice.'
City Life
ISBN 0-9456745-07-2
£4.95
Published 1992

Rainbows in the Ice
Poetry by disabled writers
'Rainbows in The Ice is just that: a colourful weaving or words in a cold world. These poems give a powerful voice to the complex experience of disability, exploring both the pain and the joy of being different in a society full of prejudice and fear.'
Jenny Morris
ISBN 0-946745-90-0
£4.50
Published 1992

Flame
Poetry by Asian writers in English and Urdu
This ground breaking dual language collection provides a platform for poets exploring British Asian identities. Translations by Alishan Zaidi.
'One of the best collections of Asian poetry I have read.'
Kam Kaur, Eastern Eye
ISBN 0-946745-85-4
£4.50
Published 1991

Beyond Paradise
An original collection of poetry that celebrates the vitality of lesbian and gay writing. Provocative, funny and touching.
'Beyond Paradise contains poems which are stylistically exciting as well as moving. Some images of love and loss will remain with you long after you close the book. A fine collection which will ring bells with anyone who's been in, or then again out of, love.'
Jackie Kay
'I promise you once you've read it, you'll keep coming back for another little glimpse of life in the lesbian and gay lane.'
Scene Out
ISBN 0-946745-75-7
£4.50
Published 1990

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