🎄Festive Poetry Pamphlets from Candlestick Press

 

It's that time of year when I share the Christmas Poetry Pamphlets from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
2021

My thanks to Candlestick press for my copies of these poetry pamphlets

Christmas together… It sounds almost ordinary but it’s something we’ve come to appreciate all over again in recent times. These delightful poems celebrate shared moments – from the mayhem of a kitchen full of steam and chaos to carols sung around the fire after dark.

And of course “together” means more than merely being in the same house at the same time. The anthology also touches on the ways in which memory can unite us with departed loved ones and celebrates those special moments which restore recognition and joy when memory falls short:

“Eyes close, candlelight strokes her face

and oh the Christmas tree, the sparkle of it

then awake, searching, as if she could find

her way home in the depth of her family’s eyes.”

from ‘Born This Happy Morning’ by Christina Buckton

Poems by Bill Adair, Kate Bass, Christina Buckton, Jeanette Burton, Tony Curtis, UA Fanthorpe, Robert Hamberger, Nathalie Handal, Corinna Keefe, Lorraine Mariner, WS Merwin and Maureen Richardson.

Cover illustration by Hilke MacIntyre.

Donation to Our Dementia Choir.

🎄My thoughts about Christmas Together..

As we face another Christmas of uncertainty those times spent with family and friends become all the more precious and whilst Christmas together may, once again, be threatened, these twelve beautiful poems remind us of the joy of Christmas gatherings.

Memories are very much the theme for this collection of twelve beautifully expressive poems which conjure the magic and spirit of the festive season which delight the senses and tug away at the heartstrings. 

I found the collection particularly moving, especially 'A Christmas dinner plate with the pattern still visible by Kate Bass which reminded me of all those who once gathered around our Christmas dinner table...

'..yet it never seems that everyone is there;

as though somewhere, in another room

great aunts and uncles,

grandparents we can barely now remember

sit patiently with empty sherry glasses

waiting to be called through..'

The simple beauty of The Walk to Windy Nook by Maureen Richardson made me smile in gentle appreciation of a pastoral scene so beautifully described that the fields with their 'arrows of silver filigree, came alive and I sensed the cold in  the 'bright fields of snow'.

For the last ten years of her life my mother had dementia, I watched her fade away, a little more each year, I knew her but she no longer knew me. 'Born this Happy Morning by Christina Buckton evoked such memories of the mother I lost, I sobbed.

'We have to face it though

She doesn't know who we are any more.."

There's something for everyone in this collection, some poems are festive about Christmas baubles and plum puddings whilst other stop us in our tracks and make us consider just what it means to spend Christmas together.

A donation to Our Dementia Choir will be made by Candlestick Press.

Candlestick Press
2021

What could be more joyful than the moment when – merry with turkey and plum pudding – we tumble onto the sofa to watch a film we’ve seen umpteen times before? And what could be more jolly than doffing hat, scarf and gloves to venture out into the cold for the year’s festive favourite at the local cinema?

This special bumper edition of 20 poems, commissioned from leading poets, takes us on a cinematic roller-coaster via films ranging from Meet Me in St Louis! to Die Hard. After all:

“It’s not that you want to escape your life –

just that somewhere, very close by,

in a room you’ve never explored,

there’s a forest where snow falls

in the warm light cast by a lamp.”

from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ by Clare Shaw

Poems by Andre Bagoo, Panya Banjoko, Geraldine Clarkson, Jonathan Edwards, Katherine Gallagher, Matthew Hedley Stoppard, Stephen Keeler, Nick Makoha, Lorraine Mariner, Rob Miles, Jessica Mookherjee, Cheryl Moskowitz, James Nash, Bethany W Pope, Jacqueline Saphra, Tom Sastry, Clare Shaw, Penelope Shuttle, Gregory Woods and Holly Yuille.

Cover illustration by Melissa Lhoirit.

🎄My thoughts about Christmas Movies...

Who doesn't love a Christmas movie? Settling down with a mug of spiced tea and a large tub of chocolates and It's a Wonderful Life on the TV is my idea of festive bliss.

'That's who you are, who you always are

and it's why you'll keep the lights down low

and watch it again..'

From Cut by Bethany W Pope

This bumper collection of twenty lovely poems are just perfect for getting in the mood for a Christmas movie. All beautifully described, joyous, and so reminiscent of movies past from A Christmas Carol to Meet me in St Louis and It's a Wonderful Life to A Charlie Brown Christmas, there are poems which will make you smile and like Panya Banjoko in The Stopover ' turn the telly up, The Snowman's nearly on..

If you're stuck for a gift or want something instead of a card to send this festive season then both Christmas Together and Christmas Movies would make absolutely perfect gifts to let someone know that you care.

About Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press is an independent publisher based in Nottingham, UK. We’ve been publishing poetry pamphlets since 2008 not only for people who already love poetry, but also for those who will love it but perhaps don’t know that yet. Our ‘instead of a card’ pamphlets make an ideal alternative to a mainstream greetings card and are a small gift in their own right. They have matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message, and are excellent companions on journeys or for a bedtime read. By supporting us, you help an independent press and our supported charities at the same time as treating yourselves, your friends and family to some wonderful poems.

Twitter @poetrycandle

You can order these pamphlets directly via the Website  

or find them in good book retailers.