Wordsmithery*
Finalist (Publishing) Kent Creative Awards 2016
Winner (Literature) Medway Culture, design and tourism awards 2015
POETRY and FICTION
Order poetry and fiction from Wordsmithery.
If you would like to buy multiple copies of a book or several items, please email us for postage discounts. If you want to pay by invoice, cheque or BACS, email us.
*Please note - due to Brexit taxes we are not currently mailing books outside of the UK: international purchasers, please email with your enquiry.
GRAPHIC NOVEL, Paperback A5, 144pp, full colour, Oct 2023, £15 (inc UK p+p)
My Mind Is Free
Sam Hall's debut full-length graphic novel telling the story of 4 victims of human trafficking. Speculative journalism - the stories are based on fact, but told in the form of fiction.
Age advice - 12+
Printed on recycled paper.
ANTHOLOGY, Paperback 36pp, June 2022, £5 + £1.50 p+p
ISBN 978-1-9160183-5-8
Rosemary McLeish Poetry Prize 2021 Anthology
All the 20 longlisted poems from the inaugural prize, plus 2 never published poems by Rosemary and judge's report by Jane Burn.
Printed on recycled paper.
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN: 978-1-9160183-4-1, Paperback, Aug 2020, £10 + £2 p+p
Galloping horses by
Setareh Ebrahimi
Iranian-British poet Setareh Ebrahimi's debut full-length poetry collection focuses on motherhood, but much more.
"Mothers wear many hats but can never shed the one marked "mother".
Setareh Ebrahimi reflects on a stage of life that never ends in a cracked mirror that reveals much and hints at other secrets as yet unwritten."
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN 978-1-9160183-0-3
Paperback, 72p, 2019 £10 + £2 p+p
I am a field
by Rosemary McLeish
This debut full-length collection of eclogues and recollections powerfully captures place and time. Worlds balance on a page and spin. Each time it stops, you want to go there.
"... she manages to maintain her lyrical touch throughout, so that the collection as a whole remains cohesive and utterly compelling.” Joy Howard
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN 978-0-9926853-7-9
Paperback, 68p, 2018, currently £5 + £2 p+p
England, my dandelion heart by BFH
These poems attempt to capture the dandelion heart of the nation. Dandelions ‘grow anywhere and bloom many times. They even possess a unique beauty when their flower decays and the light catches them in just the right way. Ready to catch the breeze and brighten the world a little in the future. It’s good to be a dandelion.’
POETRY and PROSE ANTHOLOGY
ISBN: 978-0-9926853-0-0, Paperback, 156pp, 2013, £6 + free p+p
City without a head
- anthology
Dip in and out of this collection of short stories, poems and other ephemera inspired by life in cities... A collection of poetry and prose taking the theme of an alphabetical index. It is not a guide book. If you are lost it cannot help you find your way...
“... an exceptionally refreshing and eloquent anthology...” FemaleArts
PAMPHLET, Paperback A5, 36pp, 10 full colour illustrations, June 2023, £7 (inc UK p+p)
ISBN 978-1-9160183-7-2
Austerity Soup
Beat Poems for the Beat
22 poems in response to 13 years of austerity government in the UK.
May contain politics!
Printed on recycled paper.
ILLUSTRATED STORY, Paperback 20pp, full colour, May 2021, £6 + £1.50 p+p
Aground by
Barry Fentiman Hall
An illustrated and expanded version of a short story by BFH. Illustrated by Sam Hall.
There is an eternal sea deity, a pianist and a poet in this fantastical story set in Sheppy.
Printed on recycled paper.
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN: 978-1-9160183-1-0, Paperback, 52pp, May 2020, £10 + £2 p+p
Sketches by Baz
Fentiman Hall
BFH observes the people and places of Medway, England; the robberies, the crashes, the anger, the people on the street who are simply just there, having no place else to be.
"... contemporary issues through commonplace moments, and with language that sings, these poems give everyday England a new sort of mythology in the process.” Kate Garrett
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN 978-0-9926853-9-3
Paperback, 48p, 2018 £10 + £2 p+p
Fire in the head
by SM Jenkin
In the debut poetry collection, SM Jenkin gives us a Blakean book of fire and magic.
“You can taste the tang of the Medway in these sharp, observant poems, where myth and history gang-up on the present to tell new tales. A fine line-up from poet, SM Jenkin...”
Caitlín Matthews
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN: 978-0-9926853-6-2
Currently not available - email to enquire
One man's trash by Matt
Chamberlain and Spreken
Poems inspired by mundane photos leads to unexpected beauty. This collaboration between two Kent poets started life as a writing experiment to help escape writers’ block.
"There’s a precious fragility to this poetry ... they squeeze everything out of the images provided, twisting them, making them metaphors, allegories, mythic, humorous, sharp and soft - running with them." Setareh Ebrahimi
ANTHOLOGY, Paperback A6, 56pp, 10 full colour illustrations, Dec 2022, £8 (inc UK p+p)
ISBN 978-1-9160183-6-5
A Commonwealth of Wings anthology
26 poems about bumblebees and other pollinators in aid of The Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
Printed on recycled paper.
ILLUSTRATED ZINE, Paperback 24pp, full colour, May 2021, £6 + £1.50 p+p
Cat Dreams
Sam Hall's illustrated memoir zine about her lifelong relationship with cats.
"I'm not a cat person, but I wanted to say how much I loved the text and the drawings."
"Just read Cat Dreams cover to cover. Really enjoyed it. Been the highlight of my day."
Printed on recycled paper.
* A percentage of the proceeds from this zine will go to the Cinnamon Trust. MORE and BUY...
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN: 978-1-9160183-2-7, Paperback, 64pp, April 2020, £10 + £2 p+p
Defragmentation
by Rosemary McLeish
Rosemary McLeish confronts cancer straight on in this powerful collection.
"... McLeish is open about the fear, pain (both physical and emotional), brutality, strength, weakness, anger and sadness that she feels. There is such touching beauty in this collection..." Jane Burn
“Rosemary McLeish's unsparing honesty combines with eloquence and an extraordinary poetic imagination to bring beauty." Rosie Johnston
POETRY COLLECTION
ISBN 978-0-9926853-8-6
Currently not available - email to enquire
Longing for more
by Jonathan Terranova
This debut collection of poetry negotiates a kind of peace with the twin foes of loss and grief. The poet puts his unflinching honesty on the table to make a bargain with the reader. A visceral writer who contrasts the hideous tragedy of the natural world with its awe inspiring beauty.
“...real, raw emotion in these poems, delicate and brutal." Mark Holihan
POETRY and PROSE ANTHOLOGY
ISBN: 978-0-9926853-3-1
Currently not available
An assemblance of judicious heretics
Writing and artwork by established writers and artists sits alongside the work of new talent in this stunning anthology. (Nominated in the Kent Culture Awards 2016.) Taking Robert Frost's poem 'The Road Not Taken' as inspiration, 33 writers wrote stories, poems and a play. The writing was then given anonymously to 35 artists who then interpreted the new texts in whatever medium they wanted.
