A First Month at VP

March has proved itself an extraordinarily exciting month in publishing. So much so that I wonder if life in the wonderful world of Jamie McGarry's Valley Press can possibly maintain this pace? I am assured that I might as well "give up the gym" now that I have secured my seat on the VP bus to success (I am assuming those of you who read this blog regularly are already familiar with Jamie's uniquely confident witticisms?)

Now, before I leap into bringing you up to date to with spring's events so far, I would like to take a little space here to properly introduce myself: I am Jamie's newest (and only) member of staff. I first met Jamie in 2008 at Scarborough Poetry Workshop when he joined us after winning first place at the Scarborough Literature Festival's poetry slam. I myself had held the title for winning the year before and was curious about this new face of poetry rising up through the ranks. I would like to point out (as has now become a custom when we relay this tale) that I had not entered the slam the year that Jamie won. Since then I have entered and won two further slams which Jamie likes to make absolutely clear that he did not enter. So, we have become united by our undefeated titles as Scarborough Slam Champions and while the poetry world waits with baited breath for the day we become slam rivals and enter the same competition, we placate with mutual appreciation in a contrived stalemate - contented - playing scrabble.

...by a poor but equal Scrabble skill.

Ele Lawlor vs Jamie McGarry, perfectly
matched...

I have come to Valley Press under a traineeship structured to compliment my studies of English. I currently wear the title 'Editorial Assistant' alongside the endearing nickname given to me by VP Author Jo Reed - 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' (thank you Jo). I very much look forward to getting to know the rest of the VP family as I endeavour to master the manyfold artistry that is publishing. Here's to growth and success all round!

So far I am pleased to report that all is chocolate roses and tuneful harmonies in the VP offices. I have enjoyed a most eclectic four weeks in my new role. My first week began by accompanying Jamie to Hunmanby where we had a brilliant time entertaining the local WI. Jamie gave an informative and humorous talk on VP's rise and future plans, and the industry of publishing in general. We introduced Hunmanby to some of the VP authors' work, reading poems from various collections. The snails were out (of course) and I was most privileged to read from Helen Burke's The Ruby Slippers and Norah Hanson's Love Letters and Children's Drawings. Then, after devouring some deliciously calorific homemade shortbread we were given the honour of judging their poetry competition. The winner was the charming Larraine whose Spring poem caught our eye with its clever rhyming of the words 'blithely' and 'Filey'. Excellent work Larraine! The day ended with an impressive amount of books sold and a sunny drive back back to Scarborough, cannily timed with Radio 2 airing the 1961 classic song 'Poetry in Motion'. Oh how we laughed (and yeah, we sang along).

Cara in full flow.

Next on the agenda was the third leg of the already highly successful Valley Press Fest tour, which took us this time to Newcastle's impressively grand city centre. The venue - The Lit and Phil - couldn't have been more fitting for a literary event. We were lucky enough to have a nearly full cast of the lovely VP Authors turn up to read for us, wine flowed and the performances were each and all superb. The evening's special guest was future VP author Cara Brennan. Cara read from her soon-to-be-published collection of poetry, her style held us all captivated as she gently spoke each poem with an alluringly congruent and clean innocency. She is currently studying for an MA in creative writing. We wish you all the best Cara and look forward to seeing you in print very soon. Watch this space people!

Of course, publishing can't all be jet-setting and sparkling performances. There is plenty to be getting on with and lots of fun new stuff for me to learn here at my desk. I have chosen, from the vast selection of submissions, my first full project for VP. I will be producing an ebook of poems by the extraordinarily beautiful writer Jade Kennedy. I have fallen utterly in love with her work and really can not believe my luck that my working day involves reading and re-reading and editing and ordering this stunning collection. I won't say too much just yet, but be sure to keep your eyes open for more news on this publication.  That's all for now, thanks for reading - hope to see many of you soon at the fine VP free April events!

A Trip to Newcastle

A typical Newcastle panorama.

Earlier this week I stepped away from the hectic publishing whirlwind for a small holiday in Newcastle, and thought I'd do a quick post about it, just to add a bit of contrast to the blog (traditionally not a source of interesting travel anecdotes).  I was mainly there to see musical hero Sufjan Stevens (previously featured in the final video on this post), but also for a general poke around this city of noble literary tradition; as you'll hear later on, I got my chance to see some of that up close.

Sufjan was ably supported by his own band member, DM Stith, who of course has been profiled by Cora on this very blog in days gone by...it really is a small world, isn't it.  He seemed to have a good night, I enjoyed his set and heard the people sat around me afterwards muttering things like: 'Wasn't he good?'  'Oh yes, so glad we came early, wouldn't have wanted to miss that.'  This was despite the venue's tannoy introducing the concert as 'Sufjan Stevens supported by...uh...DJ...Smith.'  Of the two names, his is probably the easier to pronounce, I'd have thought.

The venue was the incredible Sage (see picture above - it's the shell-like building on the left), and the show more than lived up to the grandeur and spectacle of the building.  Sufjan expertly captured the spirit of his latest album, just upping the ante a bit to make it intensely thrilling; an engrossing and dangerously arty couple of hours.  One of the things that impressed me was the 'duelling drumkits', one at either side of the stage, facing inwards (so looking at each other), an idea not used to make more noise, but to produce intricate and carefully planned rhythms... I was scrutinising the behaviour of the drummers regularly during the night.  The noise quotient was mostly provided by the trombone section, who were absolutely devastating, making their proclamations (possibly the most memorable bit of the album) with almost physical force.

Cue tickertape, near the end of Sufjan's show.

Basically, spectacle is the word... I struggled to engage my senses and brain sufficiently to take it all in, and make the most of this twice-a-decade chance to see Suf.  But I did okay.  And fortunately, other attendees took videos... you can see one of the quietest songs of the night here, from a very interesting angle, and head here for a short look at the climax of the evening, the end of the thirty-minute long 'Impossible Soul', with ticker-tape pouring down and some very odd costumes.

That was Monday.  The next day (before I went home...I did say it was a short holiday) I was determined to find a literary landmark, and with no street vendors selling 'maps to poet's homes' (though the city is full of them), I ended up at the Literary and Philosophical Society - my first visit.  My suspicions that this would be exactly my kind of place were proved accurate... I've never seen so many poetry books, old and new, in one place - if you have, let me know and I'll go there next!  The people also seemed infinitely agreeable; I overheard a bloke tell his friend a joke where the punchline was: 'and then he says, "have we met?  My name's Rilke"' at which they both guffawed.  On leaving, the friend said: 'well, tara then old boy, see you anon.'  I wish I could get away with speaking like that.

After a quick read of Bertolt Brecht's Collected Poems (I'm into him at the moment... I opened the book onto a poem where he reckons Los Angeles is full of 'houses built for happy people, therefore standing empty / even when lived in') I headed to some sort of refreshment hatch, where I met a very nice woman with the classic Geordie accent who sold me, without question, the best glass of orange juice I've ever had.  I went back to see if she'd fill up my water bottle for the train - not only did she provide this service, she slipped a large bar of chocolate into my bag, winked, and said: 'have this for the journey, pet...on the house.  Remember us next time you're in town.'  I certainly will!  She also asked me 'what the deal was' with 'that Lady Gaga' - I forget how we got onto that topic, but I didn't have any insight for her.

That about concludes my travel report.  If you're the sort of person who likes photographs, there's a decent selection of snaps from the trip on facebook - otherwise, stay tuned to the blog for some decent book-related posts later this week, not least of which a report from James Mcloughlin's launch on Wednesday 25th.  Don't just read the report though - try and get there, it's going to be fantastic.