This week at Valley Press, #67: 'The Hours'

Dear readers,

For once, there's very little to say in this week's newsletter. All is quiet at Valley Press HQ, with most of the staff on holiday (sunning themselves near a volcano, etc). The highlight was our first 'Literary Lunch Hour', with the legendary James Nash sharing his classic sonnets, before teasing us with what may well be the title poem for the next volume of them, due in autumn 2018.

If you missed the event, you don't necessarily need to miss out; it was recorded and can be found on YouTube here. You'll hear my anecdote about the day I came up with the Valley Press name, and drew the first two covers (nine years ago this week), and James describe a discussion with a neurologist, who explained how writing sonnets had essentially re-wired James' brain into a sonnet-writing machine.

I will try not to go on about this series of events too much in the newsletter, as I realise the majority of you don't live anywhere near Scarborough; but I hope the videos can help everyone to feel included. Next week is a celebration of the poetry of Helen Burke, though I'm sorry to report it looks like the poet herself may not be able to attend. The event will go ahead regardless, with myself and some volunteers attempting to do justice to decades' worth of amazing writing. We will be pulling out all the stops; that's 1-2pm on Thursday, and the next four Thursdays after that (see below). Wish us luck!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher