Books published by Black Eyes Publishing UK

Sue Finch''s debut collection Magnifying Glass focuses the lens on moments in time and carries the reader from childhood through to adulthood. The title poem recalls one of her brother''s experiments in the garden with his new magnifying glass and its ability to focus sunlight to make fire. The poems are at times dark (Hare Mother reflects on a woman leaving an abusive relationship), occasionally twisted (The Red Shoes is a fairy tale inspired poem that begins with a meeting in a shoe shop) and often poignant (No Second Chance recounts an autobiographical moment where poor use of an axe to chop wood has unforeseen consequences). The final poem, Graphene, is a love poem as well as a celebration of carbon atoms.Sue Finch''s poems are flesh on the skeletons of folktales. They are inhabited by creatures who breathe quietly in the human dusk. They are tender, straight-talking, yet can catch you off-guard with their slanted pathways.  Helen IvorySue Finch is a writer of great versatility. Her wide repertoire includes poems that startle and shock with their strong themes (suicide, heartache, trauma within the family), and also quirkier, observational poems, poems which celebrate a star gazing brother, or try to bring the moon down from the sky for a lover. What all her poems have in common however, is a charge and electric current, language that (in the words of Dylan Thomas) lifts off the page, vivid and immersive imagery and a rich musicality and a fresh new reading of fairytale and ancient tales.To read Sue is to be transported to other worlds, not just the gorgeous yet unsettling lands of the Hare Mother, the Red Shoes or a traumatised Rapunzel, but to worlds in which the everyday is transformed into the stuff of myth and legend.A glorious and transcendent read from a poet with a fiercely original vision of the world, and a strongly developed imagination.Anna Saunders, Cheltenham Poetry Festival Founding Director. ∩╗┐''Sue Finch''s poems have the ability both to beguile and shock you with their humour, tenderness and darkness. Her confident dexterity with language and voice scoops the reader up and deposits them firmly in the world of her poems, whether that be family history, domesticity or an old fairy tale seen through new eyes. Sue''s writing is vivid; it''s curious. Her poems question and challenge the reader to be curious too; it''s a challenge well worth accepting.'' Georgi Gill, Editor, The Interpreter''s House.

These poems are unearthed gems, concise and rich in crystal clarity. A treasure for any reader of poetry. ---(Z D Dicks, Founder/CEO Gloucestershire Poetry Society and Gloucester Poetry Festival.)…..Radiant and luminous poems written by a poet with a richly lyrical voice and more than a touch of Seamus Heaney in her vivid, earthy descriptions of rural life. Each poem is a little Eden or arcadia, seething with sensory detail and resonating with musicality. These are astonishing poems in which a dazzling use of imagery is fused with a masterful use of language and line break, in which every line, ever word, is breath-taking. Immensely beautiful and potent poetry, which remains connected to the real world whilst transcending above it. ---(Anna Saunders, Cheltenham Poetry Festival Founding Director.).....Bailey shows a beautiful attention to detail in this writing. Her work boasts a crisp and observant voice that left me longing for the simplicity of youth, and her countryside descriptions had me itching to escape the city for a weekend of wonder and wilderness. This work has a rich taste to it, indeed. ---(Dr Charley Barnes, Worcestershire Poet Laureate 2019-2020, Managing Director | Sabotage Reviews, Visiting Lecturer - Newman University and University of Worcester).....I wish Bailey could have read these testimonials to her talent. From the moment I read the first poem, 'Blackberry Jam' I knew we had found a jewel. Working with her words gave me goose bumps... It is an honour to finally fix her poems in print. ---(Josephine Lay, Poet in Residence at Cheltenham Library, Creative Writing Adviser Black Eyes Publishing UK).

'In Intimate Nature, Z D Dicks hops the border between the human and the animal, exploring the increasingly fraught coexistence of civilisation and non-human species, while offering us dark glimpses of our feral selves. Wolves, chimps, magpies, vipers and ants all teem through this energetic and vivid collection, populating an urban jungle where the poet 'howls' like a 'dog on a chain'. - (David Clarke) .....'Poems that sizzle with electric energy, an unusual and unforgettable collection excavated from an excitable, surreal mind.' - (Jennie Farley) .....'Potent, explosive poetry which crackles with electricity. Z Dicks displays a masterful handling of language and fuses a richly lyrical voice with innovative almost experimental syntax and form. At time there's such vivid earthy and timeless imagery it brings to mind Seamus Heaney.' - (Anna Saunders) ....'Dicks's poetry has the touch of the prophet about it. With an uncanny ability to look below the surface of our everyday world, this collection brings the reader uncomfortably, unsettlingly close to its sharp, hard edges. Twisting together the personal and the societal like brambles, it is impossible to know where the paths of these wonderful poems will lead: towards the broken, discordant chords of a 'tangerine pink petrol dusk' or with an expertly injected flash of lightness and humour. With its innovative use of spacing and challenging exploration of our natural world, this collection feels extremely necessary in our troubled times. It is a real must-read for all who question the distance we have put between ourselves and the spaces we live in, with writing that combines difficult questions with pleasure and light. In the words of the poet himself: 'if he were here now, I'd pass him my banjo.'' - (Ben Ray) .....'The poems in Intimate Nature explore what makes us human, and what is still firmly animal about us, and how those two extremes are almost always closer than we think in our everyday lives. With striking imagery and fluid language, the raw material on every page is polished into a poetic gem. One to read and re-read, this collection will give you a new perspective each time you pick it up.' - (Kate Garrett, poet & editor)

Nanook the Bipolarbear is a bear in chaos… Riding the icy waves of Bipolar Affective Disorder and barely coping with the stress of everyday life.Nanook has been in a five-year hibernation while processing the complex emotions of life. Nanook lives at both poles and regularly visits everywhere in-between.Oddly for a bear with an Instagram account, Nanook would rather be hidden in a cave than displayed for everyone to view. The only reason for agreeing to take part in this book is to help others who are dealing with stressful situations in their mental health. Nanook took a lot of convincing to get involved.Nanook isn't here to pretend everything is OK and that this bear is doing any better than anyone else in life, Nanook just wants to show that its OK to not be OK.

Derek Dohren is a writer and performer who really lets his personality come through in his work. His strong creative voice charms audiences with poignance and comedic moments to give the listener/reader a full, rounded experience. Derek's poetry takes you on a whimsical journey by tickling the belly of your curiosity leading you in to his hilarious, brilliant and ultimately intriguing world. Just when you think you know where you're going he flips the script and leaves the listener either gobsmacked, laughing or crying but definitely enlightened!

Josephine Lay's short stories focus on the human condition. This collection is all about people, their relationships and how they cope with loneliness and loss. Some of her stories are light and amusing, some darker and sadder, and some are frankly strange. They were written over a period of ten years, yet all have a thread that strings them together; a slim strand of colour… The many tones of Saffron.The Short Story has, in the past, been less fashionable than the Novel, but it is gaining popularity in this frenetic, modern world, where people have less and less time to read. As Silas Marne says, 'The world has accelerated; people, no longer have the time to read pages and pages of literary eloquence.' Josephine Lay's stories will haunt you long after you have put down her book. ~ Silas Marne

Unravelling is a collection of poems written within one year.Josephine Lay writes about the unravelling nature of things in her life; divorce, bereavement, health issues (after hitting her head and getting concussion) and a few poems touching on the political situation in this country during 2018. Her poems speak of the human condition; of life, love, loss and even death. Here is sadness and descent but also the struggle towards the light and the survival of the human spirit.

A collection of poems written in 2017/2018 The Japanese poems are truly beautiful pieces, powerful, moving, and wonderfully written. I'm sat here drinking coffee and I'm lost for words.Scott Cowley aka Rusty Goàt Peter Lay's words '…are spinning through my mind'Sometimes beautiful… Sometimes weird… Always kind.An altered perspective… A modern-day Don Quixote.Silas Marne

'Another Friday' is a poetry book by Peter Lay and Zaiming Wang... It should not be seen as a sequel to 'Yellow Over The Mountain' by the same authors, more of a supplement. Most of the poems were written collaboratively via exchange of email and text messages.

This is a book, written in both English and Chinese, about the beginning of an unfinished journey to seek life through art. The journey began in June 2014 with an exchange of ideas by email. However, the words in this book have been mainly taken from text messages and emails between March and June 2016. They become metaphorical... And then personal... But that is life…