Böcker utgivna av Stairwell Books

Set in Ireland in 1650, The Story of the Pirate Queen takes as its subject the life of the Irish clan chief and pirate Grace O'Malley - or Grainne ni Mhaille - who spent her life fighting the forces of Elizabeth 1 before sailing up the Thames for a summit meeting with the English queen. In the book, Grace's ten-year-old great great granddaughter Maude is being told the story of her ancestor by her tutor, Catherine, on the eve of her betrothal to a much older man in an arranged marriage. As Catherine gradually learns why Maude has been summoned to a castle at the edge of the Atlantic, her tales of Grace's rebellion and bravery take on more urgency. But can Maude resist her father's will? What will she make of Grace's meeting with Queen Elizabeth? And is Catherine endangering them both?Interwoven into these narratives is an extract from a play Catherine has written about the meeting of Grace and Elizabeth. This turns a straightforward pirate story into an exploration of the function of fiction itself: what are stories for? Can - and do - they belong to anyone?'Lively, lyrical and engrossing, The Pirate Queen brings to life the tale of the Irish Boudicca, a fearless leader whose story is used by a rebellious governess to inspire her pupil to resist a forced marriage. I found it irresistible.' - Miranda Seymour, Biographer'...A cracking story which seamlessly spans the decades.' - Dr Gillian Kenny, Historian, Trinity College Dublin 'A compelling and vividly realised story of solidarity, courage and resistance... a story about the power of stories' - Fran Lock, Poet

Otto lives with his uncle, an ambitious mechanic and creator of mechanical animals that live in the orangery. when a break-in occurs and many parrots are stolen, the police blame Florence, a street child, who sits outside the orangery and draws. Otto and Florence work together to solve the crime, encountering pirates and an arch villain along the way.A rollicking steam adventure with mechanical parrots and a clever monkey.

Bookish teenager Reggie Bainbridge's family moves into a shabby hotel while their home is adapted to better suit the needs of her younger brother who lives with cerebral palsy. Resentful of the sacrifices Luke's condition requires of the family, and while living amongst the hotel's very special crew of staff / residents, Reggie must confront her own fears and prejudices, or face a summer of social isolation. Charismatic local boy Raymond appears to offer a last chance for summer fun. But Raymond's father is ruthless, and gives Reggie far more to worry about than her own concerns.

An examination of the ways in which an event courses through the mind and changes it on a cellular level. Through the constant heartbeat of performance rhythms, Shannon takes us inside a life broken apart and rebuilt.  ''By turns smouldering, furious and elegiac, these narratives and monologues clamour with the sound of late night drama, relishing the tones of washed out, wasted afternoons, and reveling in the sad, delicious language of emotional conflicts delayed and confronted. If art is about exploring and escaping trauma, these poems offer a map. Like fellow Glasgow poet Victoria McNulty, Shannon is acutely at home in the disputed borderlands between the personal and political. Fractured is a shattering work, but ultimately it transcends.'' - Texture''With turns of phrase that take your breath away and a narrative that grasps you, Fractured is like no poetry I''ve read. It crackles with imagination, delivers twists and surprises and presents a story at once haunting and empowering.'' - Imogen Stirling ''Shannon has always been an incredible and engaging performer, but reading her work just on the page you can see how well it translates. A lot of brilliant storytelling on offer, all of it so brilliantly done. I can''t recommend it highly enough.'' - Tyrone Lewis

A razor-sharp collection examining all that is broken; and the few things that work in a country controlled by cows, herders, and thieving officials.

Djoser and the Gods. There are many mysteries surrounding the Egyptian pyramids.One night, Pharaoh Djoser hears a voice that awakens him, claiming to come from a god who lives in another universe. Is he dreaming, or could this be true? This is a stoy of the construction of the first pyramid.A Historical Novel with a dash of Science Fiction.

The Words from a Distance workshops were conceived one chilly morning in March 2020 a few days before the national lockdown was announced. They focused on writing for wellbeing, offering women a chance to gather online, to record their experiences, process thoughts and feelings, or simply to escape them for a while in the company of others. Although we were going nowhere, we travelled great distances together, sharing inner and outer journeys. This book is a distillation of that unforgettable time.''Here we have prose and poems, formal and experimental writing, close observation of daily life and flights of imagination. Everything, that is, that makes us human. These fifteen writers, who were thoughtfully guided by Judi Sissons, approach similar themes from different perspectives, so the writers are in conversation with each other, singing like the birds did during those strange, still months when we were unable to get close to each other.''Victoria Field''Here is a distillation of creativity fostered by mutual support - the work of a writing community transforming individual experiences into stories and poems to share. Lockdown woodland walks, consolatory rescue hens, edible oysters, satirically depicted departments for future success - these and other gems will tease, comfort, shock and amuse you.'' Hannah Stone

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Part memoir part biography of a beloved father York author Rita Jerrams final collection of poignan. In this final collection of stories by well-known York writer, Rita Jerram, Rita recalls her fathers eventful life and her own youth. This delightful memoir vividly records a vanished world.

Twins Katrina and Alex normally live on a houseboat in London, but are spending the summer in Scotland while their mum receives treatment. Aunt Clara is an artist, like Alex, and Uncle Archie is a forest ranger. Almost right away, the twins find themselves searching for what seems to be a big cat. Or, is something stalking them?

Harriet is a young hippopotamus who has always felt like an elephant. A gentle, engaging story about a young hippopotamus who has felt like an elephant as long as she can remember. She decides to ask the elephant herd if she can live with them, and be an elephant. She is accompanied by a chimp, a sandpiper and a giraffe, puzzled by her decision but who keep her company on her journey. The no-nonsense elephant matriarch simply informs her she had better "keep up", thus accepting her, and a small elephant walks beside her, as her animal friends wave goodbye and wish her well, and a small elephant walks beside her. Her animal friends wave goodbye and wish her well.

"Linguistically charged, rhythmically and technically assured, theatrically daring, this poetry collection restores mythical and historical female figures to the human imagination. The cast of characters includes Greek goddesses, an 18th Century Chines pirate, pilots in the WWII Serbian Night Bomber Regiment, black American golf and tennis pro, Althea Gibson, and photographer Khadija Saye, who died in the Grenfell fire. The poems are robust, playful, tender and compassionate. The work as a whole forms an unsentimental and richly detailed testament to women''s resistance. It bears witness, expressing and celebrating the life-force and capacity for love that defines each character and that we recognise as poetry''s authentic subject matter."Graham Mort"Unknown cracks on with its task of introducing and re-introducing us to women who might otherwise slip through history and culture''s ever wide female-shaped holes. Brisk and beautiful poems speed us from goddesses like Kore to semi-mythic figures like Cartimandua ("Lost Queen of the North" as I think of her) to real life women like Khadija Saye, a young artist who tragically died in the Grenfell fire. Works of reclamation like this are ongoingly necessary-which is frustrating-but when they''re done so well, are a pleasure and a joy." Kate Fox 

Poetry about the sudden, drastic changes wrought across the country due to Covid and lockdowns: British, but universal. "You will weep.. for/what you always assumed was real.../...places, comings and goings, meetings/and encounters, the uninhibited touch of others." from 'The New Rules to Abide By'"Beagrie's latest collection is recurringly good - recurringly catch-in-the-throat good. With expert twists and turns of language and emotion, he deftly makes us explore the layers of the pandemic's impact. From the punch-in-the-gut poignancy of 'On Touch', through a wonderful complexity of prose poems on our disturbed and disturbing times, this is a collection that will resonate long after Covid fades from our collective memory." - Char March"This collection chronicles the strange legend of the plague year - all distances, absences and grief - bursting with energetic presence, restlessly, defiantly embodied. The poems' diverse robust forms are as if each one were being tested to see if it can bear the weight of all that surreal sudden change. There is strength in such faithful truth-telling, even amid heartbreak, fracture and loss. Bob Beagrie finds words for the unsayable, to ask what will endure in our unknown future."- Linda France

Set against the Russian Revolution of 1905, a prelude to that of 1917, this novel explores the complexity of relationships and motivations that lead to acts of rebellion.As Anna finds new purpose to her life and falls in love, the violent struggle against the Tsar escalates. On 9 January 1905, a workers' protest is massacred by Tsarist soldiers

The King has been defeated and the spirit of the Mantra restored and Suni reunited with her father but all is not quite right. Then strangers arrive from the sea bringing hope for the town: but nothing is quite as it seems.

Starspin is a reflective collection which includes poems published in a wide range of leading magazines and journals including Carillon; Dream Catcher; Envoi; Labrys; Lunar Poetry; Manifold; Northwords Now; Orbis; Other Poetry;Poetry Monthly; Smiths Knoll; Stride; Tears in the Fence; The Journal; Ver; Wandering Dog. These poems are a reminder that all life comes at a price but that we should value that cost and the benefits that ensue. Barrasford Young''s poems are masterpieces of observation offering the reader a vivid landscape of poignant well-crafted poetry. His long time love of books and literature as a retired publisher and bookshop owner offers the reader a lens to see the world of wide experience. This poem from the book exemplifies his wry observation, empathy and descriptive skills:The unnecessary death of an otter cub in a new hydro scheme Dark hydro water turbines back to lightbehind my house.At its high intake a cub caughtin unnatural rock fights          concrete scours her cubsilk pelt concrete strips her skin to gut her bones break     her will fails in wild trapped waterthat should have buoyed hershe fought and did she not feel terrorat that slow closing of body,fear the dark clawsfingering through her eyes? She did not know of death,but felt something failand found no gentleness. Not being aware of extinctionmakes it no easier. "Barrasford Young is at his best with his sharp natural descriptions and recreation of scene and place."PaulineKirk, Editor, Fighting Cock Press