Kirjahaku

WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2014*PBS Recommendation 2014*‘When I became a bird, Lord, nothing could not stop me…’In Black Country, Liz Berry takes flight: to Wrens Nest, Gosty Hill, Tipton-on-Cut; to the places of home. The poems move from the magic of childhood – bostin fittle at Nanny’s, summers before school – into deeper, darker territory: sensual love, enchanted weddings, and the promise of new life. In Berry’s hands, the ordinary is transformed: her characters shift shapes, her eye is unusual, her ear attuned to the sounds of the Black Country, with ‘vowels ferrous as nails, consonants / you could lick the coal from.’ Ablaze with energy and full of the rich dialect of the West Midlands, this is an incandescent debut from a poet of dazzling talent and verve.

*WINNER OF THE WRITERS' PRIZE - BOOK OF THE YEAR*Inspired by a true story, The Home Child is a beautiful novel-in-verse about a child far from home‘Ground-breaking’ Benjamin Zephaniah‘Beautifully crafted’ Guardian‘Extraordinary’ Hannah LoweIn 1908, Eliza Showell, twelve years old and newly orphaned, boards a ship that will carry her from the slums of the Black Country to rural Nova Scotia. She will never return or see her family again.With nothing to call her own, the wild beauty of her surroundings is the only solace Eliza has – until another Home Child, a boy, arrives at the farm and changes everything.Inspired by the true story of Liz Berry’s great aunt, this spellbinding novel in verse is an exquisite portrait of a girl far from home.‘One of the outstanding books of this year. Although this is a historical tale its resonance is timeless’ Sunday Times‘Deeply moving. A graceful, delicate book, stunning in its emotional depth... I know I'll return to it many times in the future’ Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start From

*'The Republic of Motherhood' Winner of the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem*‘I crossed the border into the Republic of Motherhoodand found it a queendom, a wild queendom.’In this bold and resonant gathering of poems, Liz Berry turns her distinctive voice to the transformative experience of new motherhood. Her poems sing the body electric, from the joy and anguish of becoming a mother, through its darkest hours to its brightest days. With honesty and unabashed beauty, they bear witness to that most tender of times – when a new life arrives, and everything changes.

Inspired by a true story, a beautiful novel-in-verse about a child far from home. From award-winning poet Liz Berry.*WINNER OF THE WRITERS' PRIZE - BOOK OF THE YEAR**WINNER OF THE WRITERS' PRIZE FOR POETRY*'A profound act of witness to a long injustice, and a beautifully crafted conjuring of a life lived as truly as possible' Guardian 'Book of the Day''Ground-breaking' Benjamin Zephaniah'Exquisite' Hannah Lowe, author of The Kids'Home's not a place, you must believe this,but one who names you and means beloved.'In 1908, Eliza Showell, twelve years old and newly orphaned, boards a ship that will carry her from the slums of the Black Country to rural Nova Scotia. She will never return to Britain or see her family again. She is a Home Child, one of thousands of British children sent to Canada to work as indentured farm labourers and domestic servants.In Nova Scotia, Eliza's world becomes a place where ordinary things are transfigured into treasures - a red ribbon, the feel of a foal's mane, the sound of her name on someone else's lips. With nothing to call her own, the wild beauty of Cape Breton is the only solace Eliza has - until another Home Child, a boy, comes to the farm and changes everything.Inspired by the true story of Liz Berry's great aunt, this spellbinding novel in verse is an exquisite portrait of a girl far from home.'Vivid, compassionate and makes Eliza Showell's voice heard at last' Financial Times *Best Poetry Books of summer 2023*'A haunting, deeply compelling narrative' Andrew McMillan, author of physical'Only Liz Berry could write such raw and staggeringly beautiful poems' Fiona Benson, author of Vertigo & Ghost

Rhianna is living with her grandmother in a small village at the edge of the Perilous Forest, hidden deep in the Summer Country, remote from all the turmoil of post-Roman Britain, where the Bear, King Arthur, is battling rebellious war lords, west and east, to bring order and safety to his people.Rhianna thinks of herself as an ordinary village girls, enjoying life with her animal friends in her paradise Forest, although sometimes she thinks she remembers another life in a great stone hall or is she just dreaming, as her grandmother insists? Rhianna seems to be surrounded by mysteries that her enigmatic grandmother, healer and wise woman of the village will not explain. And what of her absent mother, who never visits?As Rhianna grows older, exploring and learning, she realises that her skills are not ordinary at all and can be very dangerous. Does she really want to be a healer too, or is there something else she must discover?This is the story of a young woman with a secret heritage growing up in a shattered world of good and evil, and the choices she must make.

'No more exams. No more boring holiday work. Just two blissful weeks painting in the country - then, art college at last. Just paint, paint, paint ' Cathy Harlow is a gifted painter. She is seventeen and three glorious years at art college stretch ahead of her. But when she meets Paul Devlin, lead guitarist of the famous rock band, Easy Connection, and a millionaire superstar, her dreams are shattered. Dev is beautiful, brilliant, but with an explosive violence lurking just below his cool and easy charm. Cathy is attracted and repelled in equal measure, but Dev is determined to have her, and Dev usually gets what he wants... Easy Connections is a powerful and compelling novel, a love story with a difference, set against a vivid background of art school and the larger-than-life world of successful rock stars, a world where you set your own limits, or live beyond them.