This week at Valley Press: 'A labour of love'

Dear readers,

Let me start by wishing a happy Mother's Day to all of you, especially my mother of course (always VP's number one fan), and any mums-to-be who might be reading – we've got a lot of time for them at the moment. You know how it is: you labour for nine months to bring something beautiful into the world, then delivery day comes, and everyone involved is anxiously pacing, waiting for news ... but then it arrives, you open the box, and find it's every bit as wonderful as you imagined.

Oh, hang on – I'm thinking of publishing. But that's good too!

Our latest 'labour of love' is due out this coming Thursday: The Wild Gods by Malene Engelund. You can see part of the extraordinary cover art for this book in our header image, and of course the full thing on the book's homepage here. Thanks to artist Polly Morgan and photographer Tessa Angus for letting us use that work, titled 'Blue Fever' – find out more about the artwork here, if you wish.

The contents of the book, which strictly speaking is a 'debut pamphlet', are equally impressive. Just reeling off the key subjects – birds, the voices of women, Denmark, art and artists – doesn't touch the surface; this one is all about the language, the very best of ambitious, modern poetry. I've added a sample poem to the website here, one of the most 'immediate' pieces, and if you like that I'd definitely encourage reading more.

Long-time Valley fans may remember Malene, and her poem 'Scold's Bridle', from our 2013 anthology Pocket Horizon, which has proven an extraordinarily fruitful source of talent – Malene is the third 'graduate' from that book to have a solo publication with Valley Press. As a tribute, I'll make that our half-price paperback of the week; use code 50POCKET at the checkout to get the deal.

We'll be launching The Wild Gods on Monday 14th March, at the Genesis Cinema on Mile End Road in London, from 7pm – hope to see some of you there. Don't forget we have a launch this week too, for Mr Jolly; that one is on Wednesday 9th, from 6pm at Cafe Society in Huddersfield. No shortage of literary events at the moment!

If you think the books are coming thick and fast this year, you're right – and they won't be stopping, we are aiming for at least twenty-one titles in 2016. And don't worry; we'll be looking for 2017 submissions soon, I'm planning to open the floodgates two weeks today. Come back next Sunday too, though, for some more exciting news.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher