Uncategorized Archives - Page 8 of 91

Posted on September 6, 2024September 6, 2024 by Seren Books

Friday Poem – ‘There Is An Indescribable Joy’ by Marianne Burton

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘There Is An Indescribable Joy’ by Marianne Burton from her collection Kierkegaard’s Cupboard.

There Is An Indescribable Joy
There is an indescribable joy
that rises of itself
that takes in the city
and the city’s thought
as when a sudden gust of wind
breaks the string
and the kite staggers away
not in a horizontal flick
but perpendicular
as though fall
were impossible
up until perspective
shrinks it out of sight.
Imagine how we look from there.

Posted on September 3, 2024September 2, 2024 by Seren Books

Call-out for Freelancers

Graphic showing lots of Seren book covers in a grid

We’re looking for freelance copy editors, creative editors, proofreaders, visual artists and illustrators interested in working with us on our books.

With the aim of enriching, connecting and strengthening lives through creative writing, Seren Books strives to offer innovative, equitable and engaged publishing from and for Wales and the world.

As a part of this, we want to expand the range and number of individuals we work with. We are particularly keen to engage with individuals who have lived experience of racism, ableism, poverty, homo- and trans-phobia, and/or are aged under 30 years. Tackling discrimination and championing our young people benefits everyone in society, and we want to generate positive change for all.

If you are a professionally experienced copy editor, creative editor or proofreader, and/or have an artist’s or illustrator’s portfolio to share and are available to work freelance, we want to hear from you.

You’ll need to share our values and vision and wish to work with a vibrant range of writers to discover, polish and elevate hidden literary gems. We are looking for individuals who are just as passionate as us about increasing the diversity of those whose creativity is given a platform in Wales, and who shapes the stories and imagery we publish.

If you are interested in being considered to work with us as and when opportunities arise, send us your CV and/or portfolio at [email protected] with the heading ‘Freelance Call-out’. Please include a paragraph about yourself in the email, along with your sample rate(s). Please also give your express written consent for us to retain your CV/portfolio, email and contact details on our secure freelance database for the purpose of contacting you about possible future opportunities.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Posted on August 30, 2024August 30, 2024 by Seren Books

Friday Poem – ‘Danger’ by Rachel Carney

Photo of a single jellyfish floating in the shallows, its pale body hidden amongst the seaweed.

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘Danger’ by Rachel Carney from her debut collection Octopus Mind. This weekend is your last chance to get Octopus Mind (and lots of other great books) half-price in our Summer Sale. Use the code ‘summer2024’. Sale ends 11:59pm Sunday 1st September.

Danger
We were warned about the jellyfish,
where we paddled, tentatively,
in the shallows, our backs to the sun,
feet braced against the slap of wavelets,
eyes alert for anything globular,
for anything pale, or stringy.
And we were warned about the sinking sand –
sluggish, wet,
sucking at our shoes,
swallowing our shoes.
And the cliffs that might collapse at any moment,
that might crumble to dust
and bury us alive
in a heap of rock and fossils.
They warned us about the danger
of talking to strangers,
of strange men in nightclubs
offering to walk us home.
We were warned to say,
before we set off,
into the mountains,
which path we planned to take,
and exactly when we planned to return.
But nobody warned us about the danger
of sitting, alone, on the sofa.
Or the danger of forgetting to eat,
of not wanting to get up from the sofa.
And nobody warned us of how difficult it can be,
sometimes, just to lace up your trainers,
to open the front door,
to take a deep breath and brace yourself.
To walk outside.

Posted on August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 by Seren Books

Friday Poem – ‘First Job’ by Bryony Littlefair

Close up photo of stacked, chocolate coins wrapped in shiny golden foil.

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘First Job’ by Bryony Littlefair from her debut collection Escape Room.

First job
I worked at Boots on Thursday evenings,
stacking shower gels in unnatural colours,
telling blurry-looking women where to find the ibuprofen,
but usually I’d be on the downstairs till,
where a customer came every twenty minutes
grabbing a salad for a late dinner, a stick
of deodorant or baby wipes. They’d meet
my eyes so briefly. Boredom spread
like liquid magnolia soap. Once I picked up
the magazine they kept by the tills –
Health and Beauty, on which
a smiling white woman
played volleyball on the beach.
Suzanne, who was neither unkind
nor stupid, only tired and harassed, said
Don’t read that while you’re on the till.
There’s no one here, I said, looking around,
but I did as she asked and put it away
feeling a twinge of annoyance,
but a strange, building feeling too
not unlike excitement – not because I refused,
but because I was growing an understanding
of what was being asked of me, and I turned
that new knowledge over
in my closed mouth,
like a chocolate coin.

Posted on August 16, 2024August 16, 2024 by Seren Books

Friday Poem – ‘Peau’ by Damian Walford Davies

Photo of a dusty road bending to the left and disappearing into rocky mountains

This week’s Friday Pome is ‘Peau’ by Damian Walford Davies from his collection Viva Bartali!.

Peau
Tour de France, 1938; Stage 14, Col d’Izoard, 22 July
From the dustcloud belly
of the baggage train, a megaphone
bawled out your lead in cracked
Italian through the moonscape
of the Casse Déserte. There was
time enough to notice
how a fine grey dust descended
on your arms, like mamma’s
sifted flour from a sack
the colour of the Virgin’s cloak,
parching then to snakescale
crust, sweat slaking it to clay
until the staggered watchers
at the summit saw a man of ash
thrash past, his face a mask,
and wished him such a steeping
at Briançon as would be
the utter shedding of a skin.

Viva Bartali! and lots more great poetry titles are currently available half-price in our Summer Sale which runs until 1st September 2024. Use the code summer2024 for 50% off any featured title.

Shop the sale

Posted on August 2, 2024July 25, 2024 by Seren Books

Friday Poem – ‘Bees Swarming’ by Ross Cogan

Photo of bees swarming around the branch of a tree

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘Bees Swarming’ by Ross Cogan from his collection Bragr.

Bees swarming
No, not a dance.This is older, cruder, moved by the same power
that fires planets in a star’s kiln. A galaxy is being spun
between the pear tree and the wall. Polished amber suns purl and wheel;
those furthest out in lazy arcs like circling gulls; nearer the dark
axis a writhing crowd.This is
the whirlwind that conceals Zeus;
it is the double helix, the smoke unravelled from the altar-blackened
offering, and that murmur the hum of voices calling from another room.

Posted on July 26, 2024July 25, 2024 by Seren Books

Friday Poem – ‘H Is for Hurtle, J for July’ by Carrie Etter

Photo of sunlight streaming through green leaves, a park bench blurred out in the background

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘H Is for Hurtle, J for July’ by Carrie Etter from her collection Grief’s Alphabet.

H Is for Hurtle, J for July
My July hurtles towards Janus:
on the 29th, her death on an operating table four thousand miles away:
on the 30th, the anniversary of her birth, but there is no cake, no candles
to burn, no long contemplated amid
hastily purchased presents. I said
hurtle yet could also say hurdle
as I spend the month leaping and stumbling at the insurmountable.
Look at these skinned knees I might say to myself.As for hurt,
either I will go into the garden and yank out the weeds or I will slip
under a duvet and call my cats to join me.
Imagine such a month, the mountaineer’s climb from single to and through double digits. I loiter in bed, but I, bride to wakefulness, I, mind rummaging toward world, I,
horizontal lumbering toward
vertical, I, athirst, swallowing
to wet my throat, I—
I hurtle through an air
thick as treacle, whether in the shower soundlessly keening, whether in the market knocking a watermelon as she
or searching for cobs of corn still in
the husk I would peel as she set
the water boiling, whether whether whether all July even sitting in a park and watching men in white play cricket I hurtle through the blank, ceaseless corridor of grief.
And so much for July—I write in December. Lifelong I daughter.

Posted on July 25, 2024July 25, 2024 by Seren Books

Introducing our new Directors

Left to right: Rachel Dawson, Megan Farr, Taz Rahma, Elena Vaughan

Following a successful round of recruitment earlier this year, we’re excited to introduce the four new Directors joining Seren’s Board.

Rachel Dawson is a writer based in Cardiff. Her debut novel, Neon Roses, was published by John Murray Press and short-listed for both the Betty Trask Prize and Wales Book of the Year. She is currently working as a Communications Associate at Common Wealth theatre, and has experience of working in the third sector.

Megan Farr is a Lecturer in Publishing at Bath Spa University and has over 20 years of experience in publishing and literature promotion in Wales and London. Currently pursuing a PhD on internationalising Welsh children’s publishing, her research spans publishing studies, children’s literature, and translation. Megan speaks Italian and French and is a Welsh learner.

Taz Rahman is a poet, editor and literary content creator. His first poetry collection East of the Sun, West of the Moon was published in 2024. He is an editor of the climate emergency journal Modron, founder of Wales’ first Youtube poetry channel Just Another Poet and chairs the Reader’s Committee for Poetry Wales magazine.

Elena Vaughan is a solicitor specialising in Employment law and HR. Elena is a fluent Welsh speaker and enjoys learning new languages. She is currently studying Spanish. In her spare time, Elena enjoys travelling abroad and relaxing on a beach with a good book or two.

Seren’s Board of Directors now includes eleven members with Duncan Campbell currently acting as Interim Chair after Sarah Morse stepped down from the role at the beginning of the year. Duncan has extensive experience working in the publishing industry, particularly academic and scholarly publishing. He is currently Executive Director for the Copyright Clearance Centre.

We hope you will join us in giving the new Directors a warm welcome. They join the Board at exciting time following the approval of our new Business Plan. Along with the rest of our Directors they will be actively supporting Seren staff with implementing the new plan as well as contributing to regular Board meetings.

We would also like to thank Sarah Morse for her five years as Chair of the Board at Seren, and are pleased that she will be remaining as a member of the Board.