Friday 15 December 2017

This week at Valley Press, #85: 'Nearly there'



Dear readers,

The year is winding down, and as of today, Valley Press can begin to do the same. Our penultimate book of 2017, Verse Matters, was successfully launched in Sheffield last night at another emotional, inspiring event (pictured above). Manning the book stall in a charming space known as the Holt, I met a lot of brilliant new writers that I'll be wanting to keep an eye on – and so should you. The anthology is absolutely crammed with talent, young and old, with poems and prose from the first-time-published sitting comfortably alongside brilliant new work from a handful of featured 'A-listers' (if poets can aspire to such a term!)

There's still time to grab a copy or twelve before Christmas, and of course if you use discount code HAMPER (valid until noon on Monday 18th) you'll get 15% off and be entered into a prize draw to win £200 of fine VP publications. After that, please remember to get any and all Christmas orders placed by midday on Thursday 21st, before we close the office and the post elves hang up their satchels for a few well-earned days of rest.

The hamper offer also applies to our final book of the year, which I can (at last!) reveal is titled Prideaux Angels (pronounced 'pre-dough'). It's a beautifully-illustrated children's story, based on a series of promenade performances at Prideaux Place, Cornwall, happening from tomorrow up until Boxing Day (details here). You can only get this book at those performances or through our website it's an exclusive, a limited edition (only 500 copies of this version will ever be printed), and actually very attractive indeed:


Credit goes to Kimberly Campanello for writing a story that is charming and festive (with just that hint of darkness that is essential for a Christmas classic), and that works both as a dance piece and as words on a page; no easy task. Then there's renaissance man Simon Birch, choreographer and illustrator for the project – we're delighted to add both of them to our ever-growing roster of Valley Press authors. Find out more about the book via its homepage here, and do consider making one of the performances if you live nearby.

Next week's newsletter will be the last one of the year, and I'm planning a 'lap of honour' reviewing the highs and lows of 2017 ... except, missing out the lows, because who wants them so close to the holidays?! I may have one last bit of big news too, so hang on in there and watch this space (and as ever, thanks for reading).

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

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