OTHER RECENT TITLES

Frances Wilson lives in Hertfordshire, where she writes, paints and runs workshops. She has won prizes in many competitions, including The National and The Bridport. This is her second collection, about which Michael Laskey has said: "Rearranging the Sky, Frances Wilson's patiently accumulated second collection is a joy -- a satisfying patchwork of necessary celebratory poems that honour our ordinary human experience, in language that is vivid, precise and natural. Even at her most painfully elegaic, there is irrepressible lightness in her rhythms, a vitality that is ultimately consoling." CLICK HERE FOR POEMS BY FRANCES WILSON

ISBN 1 873468 98 9 -- Paperback, 80pp. £7.95

 

In 1997, David Perman had a pamphlet The Buildings from Acumen Publications which included poems about his Islington childhood. His first full collection,A Wasp on the Stair, extends his range with poems about interviewing the Ayatollah Khomeini, the the horror of 9/11 from a different viewpoint, the world after apartheid and the grievous loss to Britain of the elm tree. There are also poems of humour, satire and love. The collection was given a launch at the Torbay Poetry Festival in October 2003 -- David will be leading a session of religious poetry and hymns in All Saints Church, Brixham on Sunday 23 October 2004. CLICK HERE FOR A POEM BY DAVID PERMAN.

ISBN 1 873468 970 -- Paperback, 88pp. £7.95

One of our most popular books in the past year has been Wickham of Ware: a History of D. Wickham & Co., Railcar Manufacturers. Wickham's made a name for themselves worldwide exporting diesel railcars, gang and inspection trolleys absolutely everywhere -- from the Andes in Peru to South Africa, Rhodesia, Egypt, Cyprus, Canada, Burma, North Borneo -- long before they attempted to enter the British market. But enter it they did with such units as the diesel set illustrated below, now conserved for the Llangollen Railway Preservation Society. Wickham of Ware was written by the late Loxley Ford and has been brought up to date by James Cooper Jnr. and edited by David Perman

ISBN 1 873468 407 -- Cloth with colour jacket, 250 photos, 388 pp. £14.95.

Last year, we published Dog Bark, a selection of poems and cartoons by students, teachers and supporters of the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School in Beckenham, Kent. This year we have done something similar with What's Your Problem? by student and young people from the Guy's Evelina Hospital School. The result in both books is some amazingly vibrant and telling poetry.Dog Bark (72pp, illustrated with drawings and cartoons by the students) is available price £5.95 from: The Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School,Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham BR3 3BX and What's Your Problem? (64pp, illustrated with drawings and cartoons by the students) is available price £5.95 from: The Guy's Evelina Hospital School, Floor 12 Guy's Hospital, St.Thomas' Street, London SE1 9RT

... but Rockingham can also take orders for both books.

 

A few years ago, we published Our Boys: Ware Men in the First World War by local historian Derek Armes. It was a great success, and so we asked him to do a sequel, especially as he had worked on the restoration of the Ware Museum where there is a Report and Control Bunk, built in 1939 for the Civil Defence of the town. Inevitably, Ware at War 1939-1945 is a much bigger book than its predecessor for, as well as the Ware men on active service, this was a people's war. There were air raid wardens, first aid and rescue workers, Local Defence Volunteer and their successors "Dad's Army" or the Home Guard, fundraisers for the "war effort", providers of comforts for the troops, hosts for evacuees and many other wartime roles. Derek has researched the town at war thoroughly from the printed records as well as the memories of local people. And the book is profusely illustrated with photographs and drawings. SEE PAGE EIGHT..

ISBN 1 873468 873 -- Paperback, illustrated, 200pp. £12.95.