Wordsmithery*

You can buy A Commonwealth of Wings here. 

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We have put together a poetry collection in aid of UK bumblebees. Over the past century, our bumblebee populations have crashed. Two species have become nationally extinct, and several others have declined dramatically.

 

Not only are bumblebees fun, furry, little creatures that have been muses for as long as people have been creating art; but bees are essential to crop pollination; ‘of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of the world’s food, over 70 are pollinated by bees.’ (Achim Steiner, Executive Director UN Environment Programme)
 

Bumblebees play a huge role in pollination in the UK, because they have different lengths of tongue, so they can visit a larger range of flowers and crops than honeybees.  There are
currently 24 species of bumblebee resident in Britain, with eight of those being the most common (the ‘Big Eight’ which illustrate the collection, the cover image is of the Buff-tailed bmblebee - bombus terrestris).

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Our anthology has poems inspired by bumblebees and other pollinators by poets: Patience Agbabi, Sean Alayo, Rachel Bower, Jane Burn, Mark Connors, Zack Davies, Sarah L Dixon, Barry Fentiman Hall, Sam Hall, Maggie Harris, Sarah Hehir, Pauline Holmes, Philip Kane, Knuckles, Bill Lewis, Maria C McCarthy, John McCullough, Rosemary McLeish, Jennifer A McGowan, Jessica Mookherjee, Bridget Nolan, Sue Proffitt, Sarah Tait, Jonathan Terranova.

 

Proceeds from the anthology will go to The Bumblebee Conservation Trust.  

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The book is pocket-sized, and costs £8 including UK postage. For multiple copies or international orders, please drop us an email. 

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