This week at Valley Press, #80: 'The Late Show'

Dear readers,

A very late missive this week, as the internet has been down in the office, and I've been in York for Oz Hardwick's latest book launch – the third event for his current collection, in fact. (Can't say he's not getting it out there!) It was held as part of the NAWE conference, who really made us feel very welcome; I was given a lovely three-course meal simply for coming, caught up with many old friends, and even made some new ones. As you can see on the photo above, Oz had a slide to match each poem he read, offering an insight into some of the inspirations behind The House of Ghosts and Mirrors (the slide above is a drawing of a castle, hidden behind wallpaper in his childhood home).

Some other news, in brief:

• Wendy Pratt will be celebrating her latest book with an event at Valley Press HQ (aka Woodend, The Crescent, Scarborough), on Saturday 18th November from 2.30pm. Expect cakes and wine, and if those aren't delights enough, she'll be joined by the aforementioned Mr. Hardwick and rising star Caroline Hardaker.
  

• Our next publication, Quantum Theory for Cats, is now available for pre-order; I will share some sample poems in the near future, but for now, please note the forthcoming launch in Waterstones York on Friday December 1st, from 7pm. This is a witty new poet who needs as much support as you can collectively muster; a winner from our 2016 submissions period who has waited patiently all year to see his name in lights. Don't miss out!
  

• The first 'proper' episode of me and Emma's new podcast is now available; you can find it exclusively here for the time being (trying to get it on iTunes too). I slightly hijacked this call by sharing my 'four golden rules' for publishing, each more counter-intuitive and difficult than the last, and then thinking of a fifth rule on the spot – but you might find them interesting. We got some coverage in the Bookseller today for our efforts, you can find the article here if you want the behind-the-scenes scoop.
  

• It was announced this week that VP are teaming up with York St John University for our first foray into the world of journal publishing, taking over the York Literary Review from 2018 onwards. Submissions will be open to pretty much anyone, by the sounds of it, from late January – all details here (and watch this space!)
  

• Finally, more exciting news from York (well done to Vanessa for setting all this up): we will be working with the Cultural Education Partnership to engage children and young people from York's schools, showing them the delights of the literary world (which you newsletter readers already know well) through workshops, author visits and an anthology of work from young writers. We'll be supported in this effort by Colin Jackson of Creative Learning Partnerships, and it all kicks off in January.

Thanks for reading and digesting all that, I hope you found it interesting – I never like to get too caught up in self-promotion, but then it is a company newsletter I suppose! See you next week for some lighter fare; poetry, gossip, and all other manner of fun.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher