When we’re fluent
in the language of rivers and seas
let that be our currency.

Longbarrow Press is delighted to announce the publication of Fay Musselwhite‘s debut full-length collection, Contraflow.

Rising from peat moorland north-west of Sheffield, the fast-flowing river Rivelin, and the valley it etched out, is the setting for many of Musselwhite’s poems. Contraflow harnesses these energies to carve its own rugged course, with its bottlenecks, bends and counter-currents: tales that slant, swell and spill.

A beautifully produced 112-page hardback, Contraflow is available now from Longbarrow Press for £12.99 (inc UK P&P). You can order the book from the Contraflow microsite
(which also has 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):

Contraflow: £12.99 (inc UK P&P)

Contraflow: £16 (inc Europe P&P)

Contraflow: £18 (inc Rest of World P&P)

Contraflow will be launched at The Shakespeare, 146-148 Gibraltar Street, Sheffield S3 8UB on Tuesday 26 April (7.30pm start), with a unique stage design and collaborative readings from the book by Fay Musselwhite, Matthew Clegg and Andrew Hirst. All welcome; admission free.

You are also welcome to join us for the Sheffield launch of Angelina D’Roza‘s debut collection, Envies the Birds, at The Fat Cat, Alma Street, Sheffield S3 8SA on Wednesday 18 May (7.30pm start, admission free). For further details (and to order the book), click here. Angelina D’Roza’s ‘Fairytale No. 13’ (from Envies the Birds) is our current Featured Poem (accompanied by a new recording); click here to read and listen to it.

Finally, poet Mark Goodwin and filmmaker Martyn Blundell have created a new short film based on a recent visit to Watermead Park, north of Leicester, in which Goodwin’s ‘rail-balancing’ is to the fore. Watch the film below: