Candlestick Press

06/09/2024

ALMANAC: TWELVE POEMS FOR 2025

We begin on Exmoor and end with a frosted window in this glorious addition to our ever-popular series of Almanacs. On the way, we encounter wild roses and pipistrelle bats, the green-god Lud and “violet lightnings” during a summer storm.

The twelve poems take us through the year, noticing the particular things that make each month unique and precious. Spring is heralded in a delicious poem that relishes the rhymes and sound-patterns of the year’s most vibrant season:

“Slithery, withery Winter’s away!
Here comes dawny, yawny Spring sunrays,
rooty, shooty, tooty daffodils bright,
buttery, fluttery, butterflies light…”

from ‘Here Comes Spring’ by Linda Middleton

What could be better than starting each month with a poem? We hope this beguiling selection will help you to do just that.

Poems by David Clarke, Jane Clarke, Olga Dermott-Bond, Fiona Dignan, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Marie-Louise Eyres, Kerry Hardie, Mark Haworth-Booth, George Meredith, Linda Middleton, Angela Readman and Sara Teasdale.

Cover illustration by Laura Boswell.

06/09/2024

What could be better than starting each month with a poem? We hope this beguiling selection will help you do just that - our new Almanac for 2025 has a gorgeous cover by Laura Boswell and is the perfect gift for birthdays, friendship and of course the start of a new calendar year:

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/almanac-twelve-poems-for-2025/

Poems by David Clarke, Jane Clarke, Olga Dermott-Bond, Fiona Dignan, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Marie-Louise Eyres, Kerry Hardie, Mark Haworth-Booth, George Meredith, Linda Middleton, Angela Readman and Sara Teasdale.

04/09/2024

Festive early-birders are already ordering our beautiful new Christmas Music pamphlet, with ten poems of seasonal comfort and joy expertly chosen by Lorraine Mariner:

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/christmas-music-ten-poems-of-comfort-and-joy/

Whether it’s ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ or ‘Away in a Manger’ we all have a song, carol or tune that heralds the arrival of the festive season. Music seems to offer a miraculous short-cut to memories of happy times.
The selection takes us on a magical journey from “frosty voices of December stars” to a band of carol-singers “with weary limb” longing to find someone who will open the door and listen. We find voices lifted at the darkest time of the year, offering their own particular light:

“After long silence, there is music again,
thin lip of moon and again bright stars,
the weeds, safe now in their coffins of ice,
in singing weather.”

from ‘In Singing Weather’ by Maggie Anderson

We hope these poems will fill your Christmas with just the right amount of musical magic.

Poems by Maggie Anderson, Hayden Carruth, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frances Ridley Havergal, Oliver Herford, Lorraine Mariner, Adrian Mitchell, Edwin Morgan, Christina Rossetti and Marjorie Wilson.

Cover illustration by Niki Bowers.

Donation to Our Dementia Choir.

04/09/2024

Festive early-birders are already ordering our beautiful new Christmas Music pamphlet, with ten poems of seasonal comfort and joy expertly chosen by Lorraine Mariner:

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/christmas-music-ten-poems-of-comfort-and-joy/

Whether it’s ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ or ‘Away in a Manger’ we all have a song, carol or tune that heralds the arrival of the festive season. Music seems to offer a miraculous short-cut to memories of happy times.

The selection takes us on a magical journey from “frosty voices of December stars” to a band of carol-singers “with weary limb” longing to find someone who will open the door and listen. We find voices lifted at the darkest time of the year, offering their own particular light:

“After long silence, there is music again,
thin lip of moon and again bright stars,
the weeds, safe now in their coffins of ice,
in singing weather.”

from ‘In Singing Weather’ by Maggie Anderson

We hope these poems will fill your Christmas with musical magic.

Poems by Maggie Anderson, Hayden Carruth, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frances Ridley Havergal, Oliver Herford, Lorraine Mariner, Adrian Mitchell, Edwin Morgan, Christina Rossetti and Marjorie Wilson.

Cover illustration by Niki Bowers.

Donation to Our Dementia Choir.

02/09/2024

SCHOOL DAYS: TWENTY POEMS FROM THE CLASSROOM

Edited by Jeanette Burton and Jonathan Edwards

You never forget your school days… Is this because we were young, our minds marvellously open to the new and undiscovered? Or is it the repeating patterns of the school day and year?

Whatever the reasons, there’ll always be moments we remember: the science experiment that went wrong, a teacher saying we’re a star or the sticky-palmed hours in the hall doing exams. And there’s the universal experience of daydreaming out of the classroom window:

“The teacher repeats the question.
Outside the window, on an overhanging branch,
a robin is ruffling its feathers…”

from ‘The Hand’ by Mary Ruefle

These lively and enriching poems capture the light and shade of our days at school, and celebrate the teachers who help shepherd us through childhood and out into the world.

Poems by Kathryn Bevis, Carole Bromley, Jeanette Burton, Charles Causley, Denise Duhamel, Jonathan Edwards, Carla Sofia Ferreira, Oliver Goldsmith, Lorna Goodison, Andrew Jamison, Stephen Knight, Keith Leonard, Hannah Lowe, Thomas Lux, Brad Aaron Modlin, Kim Moore, Christopher Reid, Mary Ruefle, Catherine Smith and Jennifer Wong.

Cover illustration by Cat Moore.

02/09/2024

Back to school? We have the very thing! For teachers and former pupils everywhere, this brilliant bumper pamphlet edited by Jeanette Burton and Jonathan Edwards has twenty fantastic poems to remind us why our school days are so important.

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/school-days-twenty-poems-from-the-classroom/

Poems by Kathryn Bevis, Carole Bromley, Jeanette Burton, Charles Causley, Denise Duhamel, Jonathan Edwards, Carla Sofia Ferreira, Oliver Goldsmith, Lorna Goodison, Andrew Jamison, Stephen Knight, Keith Leonard, Hannah Lowe, Thomas Lux, Brad Aaron Modlin, Kim Moore, Christopher Reid, Mary Ruefle, Catherine Smith and Jennifer Wong.

Cover illustration by Cat Moore.

02/08/2024

The common man, truth, humour and finding your own voice - Jeanette Burton has written about all this and more over on our blog, where she talks about her brilliant new Candlestick pamphlet Ostriches https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/blog/on-writing-ostriches-ten-poems-about-my-dad/

02/08/2024

The common man, truth, humour and finding your own voice - Jeanette Burton has written about all this and more over on our blog, where she talks about her brilliant new Candlestick pamphlet Ostriches

A few years ago, I taught Arthur Miller’s great masterpiece, Death of a Salesman, to a group of sixth form students. At its heart, the play is about a parent child rela...

20/07/2024

We’re back on X!!

For those who didn’t know we’d gone, as you were.

For those who supported through the 12 hour suspension trauma, thankyouthankyouthankyou 😊

Going for a cup of tea and a lie down now, after checking the mirror for new grey hairs…

20/07/2024

We’re back on X!!

For those who didn’t know we’d gone, as you were.

For those who supported through the 12 hour suspension trauma, thankyouthankyouthankyou 😊

Going for a cup of tea and a lie down now, after checking the mirror for new grey hairs…

19/07/2024

For anyone following the Candlestick Press account on X, it’s been suspended for some unfathomable reason and we’re losing the will to live trying to get it restored. Meanwhile our Facebook, Insta and Threads accounts are all working fine, so please follow us here and spread the word!

Picture of beautiful purple flower to restore equilibrium.

17/07/2024

Two weeks to go till our Ten Poems of Light Competition closes! Details here

Our latest competition updates and previous results.

07/07/2024

For anyone planning to enter our Light poems competition, here’s our latest blog post by Carole Bromley:

To coincide with the launch of our special competition to help celebrate our millionth pamphlet sale later in the year, we asked York-based poet Carole Bromley to shed light o...

03/07/2024

http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.com/2024/07/book-review-wish-you-were-here-fourteen.html

Candlestick Press Summer 2024 Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet The moment of pulling a suitcase or rucksack down from a...

01/07/2024

New competition opens today! Details here https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/competitions/

23/06/2024

What could be more evocative of heady summer days than a meadow in all its blowy, flowery glory?

In this exquisite prose essay, leading naturalist Miriam Darlington takes us deep into the heart of a local meadow in her beloved Devon. She describes how a “drained and threadbare place” is regenerated, how it slowly fills with flowers, insects, mammals and birds until it is teeming with life – a “patchwork of heaven”.
The meadow does its own work, but it is helped by human hands – something that creates a passionate bond between the writer and this special habitat:

“I turned myself over to the hot blue sky, lying among eyebright, pimpernel and meadowsweet. My senses attuned to a tide of cricket-sound, the whirring voice of the grassland.”

from ‘The Summer Meadow’ by Miriam Darlington

There are many kinds of meadow, we are told. By paying close attention to the particular, a treasured place is brought to life in all its vivid and unique beauty.

Poems by EJ Scovell and Katharine Towers.

Cover illustration by Niki Bowers.

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/the-summer-meadow-forty-acres-of-shared-earth/

08/06/2024

This time next week! Dust off your feathers and get ready to strut 😊

Saturday 15th June 7pm

On Father’s Day Eve - or Ostriches Day as we now prefer to call it - the wonderful Jonathan Edwards will be joining the equally wonderful Jeanette Burton and a host of talented open mic poets to celebrate the launch of Jeanette’s pamphlet and dads everywhere.

Our open micers:

Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, Carole Bromley, Emma Woodhouse, Giles Watson, Jenny McRobert, John Williams, Kathy Pimlott, Kay Medway, Linda Marshall, Liz Kendall, Maggie Mackay, Marg Roberts, Penny Sharman, Pratibha Castle, Sue Wallace-Shaddad, Zoe Ploeger.

It’s free to attend but you need to register to receive the zoom link - more details here:

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/events/

Don’t miss it - it’s going to be fantastic!

08/06/2024

This time next week! Dust off your feathers and get ready to strut 😊

Saturday 15th June 7pm

On Father’s Day Eve - or Ostriches Day as we now prefer to call it - the wonderful Jonathan Edwards will be joining the equally wonderful Jeanette Burton and a host of talented open mic poets to celebrate the launch of Jeanette’s pamphlet and dads everywhere.

Our open micers:

Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, Carole Bromley, Emma Woodhouse, Giles Watson, Jenny McRobert, John Williams, Kathy Pimlott, Kay Medway, Linda Marshall, Liz Kendall, Maggie Mackay, Marg Roberts, Penny Sharman, Pratibha Castle, Sue Wallace-Shaddad, Zoe Green.

It’s free to attend but you need to register to receive the zoom link - more details here:

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/events/

Don’t miss it - it’s going to be fantastic!

04/06/2024

There’s still a few slots left for the open mic!

Yes indeed - send us your dad (or ostrich!) poems for the open mic by Friday please 😊 we’d love to have you with us! Jeanette Burton AND Jonathan Edwards will be reading.

LAUNCH EVENT WITH OPEN MIC

SATURDAY 15TH JUNE 2024
7 PM - 8:15 PM BST

ONLINE
ZOOM
FREE EVENT

Join us for an online event to celebrate Father’s Day and the publication of our latest title: a selection of affectionate and uplifting new poems written specially for us by the wonderful Jeanette Burton.

Jeanette will read from the pamphlet and there’ll be a special guest appearance by Jonathan Edwards (author of My Family and Other Superheroes). There’ll also be an open mic with poems about dads, and hopefully the odd ostrich too!

If you’d like to take part in the open mic please email your dad or ostrich poem to [email protected] and [email protected] and make sure you put OSTRICHES OPEN MIC in the subject line. We’ll be in touch to let you know if your poem has been chosen.

The event is free to attend but please secure your tickets via Ticket Tailor to receive the event zoom link. We look forward to having you with us!

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/candlestickpress/1268101

04/06/2024

Meadows, holidays… and cows. What could be more summery and enticing? Our new trio of titles for June will both entertain and delight:

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/wish-you-were-here-fourteen-poems-about-holidays/

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/the-summer-meadow-forty-acres-of-shared-earth/

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/ten-poems-about-cows/

04/06/2024

Meadows, holidays… and cows. What could be more summery and enticing? Our new trio of titles for June will both entertain and delight:

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/wish-you-were-here-fourteen-poems-about-holidays/

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/the-summer-meadow-forty-acres-of-shared-earth/

https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/ten-poems-about-cows/

31/05/2024

26/05/2024

LAUNCH EVENT WITH OPEN MIC

SATURDAY 15TH JUNE 2024
7 PM - 8:15 PM BST

ONLINE
ZOOM
FREE EVENT

Join us for an online event to celebrate Father’s Day and the publication of our latest title: a selection of affectionate and uplifting new poems written specially for us by the wonderful Jeanette Burton.

Jeanette will read from the pamphlet and there’ll be a special guest appearance by Jonathan Edwards (author of My Family and Other Superheroes). There’ll also be an open mic with poems about dads, and hopefully the odd ostrich too!

If you’d like to take part in the open mic please email your dad or ostrich poem to [email protected] and [email protected] and make sure you put OSTRICHES OPEN MIC in the subject line. We’ll be in touch to let you know if your poem has been chosen.

The event is free to attend but please secure your tickets via Ticket Tailor to receive the event zoom link. We look forward to having you with us!

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/candlestickpress/1268101

26/05/2024

LAUNCH EVENT WITH OPEN MIC

SATURDAY 15TH JUNE 2024
7 PM - 8:15 PM BST

ONLINE
ZOOM
FREE EVENT

Join us for an online event to celebrate Father’s Day and the publication of our latest title: a selection of affectionate and uplifting new poems written specially for us by the wonderful Jeanette Burton.

Jeanette will read from the pamphlet and there’ll be a special guest appearance by Jonathan Edwards (author of My Family and Other Superheroes). There’ll also be an open mic with poems about dads, and hopefully the odd ostrich too!

If you’d like to take part in the open mic please email your dad or ostrich poem to [email protected] and [email protected] and make sure you put OSTRICHES OPEN MIC in the subject line. We’ll be in touch to let you know if your poem has been chosen.

The event is free to attend but please secure your tickets via Ticket Tailor to receive the event zoom link. We look forward to having you with us!

Ostriches: Ten Poems about My Dad by Jeanette Burton 7pm on Saturday 15th June 2024 Join Candlestick Press for an online event ...

17/05/2024

Big congratulations to Jeanette Burton 😊It’s publication day for Ostriches, her brilliant pamphlet of dad poems - now available to order, just in time for Father’s Day

In this uplifting sequence, poet Jeanette Burton takes us on a lively journey to meet her dad: a man whose passions range from DIY to Only Fools and Horses. There are mem...

09/05/2024

Our upcoming launches and readings.