REVIEW

I am pleased with the review in February's Cumbria magazine of Gill Nicholson's poetry collection Naming Dusk in Dead Languages. It is quite short but I sense the reviewer really has read all the poems and this is a genuine response. Here it is.. and you might like to know that the next Poem and A Pint will be at Greenodd Village Hall on April 10th. The guest poet is Emma Jones, currently poet in residence at the Wordsworth Trust.

'There is an uncomfortable edge in Gill's words about the passing of time, nature and relationships that sets you thinking about your own life situations. That's the mark of good poetry which, I gather, is enjoying something of a renaissance in Cumbria. It's not easy reading but you won't fail to be stimulated - maybe into going along to one of this poet's regular 'A Poem and A Pint' sessions.'

Welcome to THE HANDSTAND PRESS BLOG!

Spring is in the air and a great time time to launch Handstand News. My aim is to keep you up to date with forthcoming publications and share local book chat. Your feedback and comments will be most welcome.

I am devoting most of my energy at the moment to the Sparkbridge Bobbin Mill manuscript. It was written in the 1970's by the late Douglas Philipson. It is a subject about which I knew very little and it is proving fascinating. The typescript was sent to me by Douglas's daughter in Canada. She tells the story of her family's connection with the Mill on the Crake Valley website.
http://www.crake.org Click on this and go to Local Interest/Personal Messages and 'From Spark Bridge to Ottawa'. It makes lovely reading.
I went to Sparkbridge to research some background material. The pub, The Royal Oak, has a dozen or so photographs of the Mill on the wall. The friendly landlords introduced me to a lady in the village who had worked there and kept a marvellous scrapbook of photographs and memorabilia. Its this sort of thing that makes publishing so enjoyable.