This quiet is more shul than nothingness and must be given due respect. She thinks it’s like the grass on Lose Hill, that doesn’t muddy where others have been, but tilts gold at certain times of day, and leads her down from the top.

Longbarrow Press is delighted to announce the publication of Angelina D’Roza‘s debut full-length collection of poems, Envies the Birds.

In Tibetan, shul is the impression left after whatever made it has gone. Envies the Birds is the tarmac blueprint where a tower block once stood, “the channel worn through rock where a river runs in flood, the indentation in the grass where an animal slept last night”.

A beautifully produced 80-page hardback, Envies the Birds is available now from Longbarrow Press for £12.99 (inc UK P&P). You can order the book from the Envies the Birds microsite (which also has sample poems, recordings and essays relating to the collection), or by clicking on the relevant PayPal link below (major debit cards accepted – no PayPal account required):

Envies the Birds: £12.99 (inc UK P&P)

Envies the Birds: £16 (inc Europe P&P)

Envies the Birds: £18 (inc Rest of World P&P)

Envies the Birds will be launched at The Fat Cat, Alma Street, Sheffield, S3 8SA on Wednesday 18 May (7.30pm start). Admission is free; all are welcome. Click here for further details of the launch. 

‘Somewhere else, days are getting shorter. And somewhere else again, spring and autumn are barely words.‘ Angelina D’Roza‘s new post on the Longbarrow Blog, ‘Late for the Sky’, takes up some of the themes of Envies the Birds, including seasonal (and unseasonal) change, hope in the desert, and the transformative potential of song. You can read it here.

‘Everything starts with the voice, though; if the conviction and necessity are missing, if the tone is weak or indistinct, then no amount of technical finesse will compensate.’
A new interview with Brian Lewis for The Poetry School reflects on the origins of Longbarrow Press, the importance of rethinking and rebuilding books through collaborative design, and the practical challenges (and rewards) of running a small press. Click here to read the interview.