It's thought that there are over ten million domestic cats in the United Kingdom therefore Te Harrison-Best's new collection of feline poems titled Catawall at very least should have a vast ready-made audience among owners. If you've kept a dog and cat at the same time you will be only too aware how different in nature these creatures are. Basically, the faithful hound is a camp follower, awaiting orders while the cunning kitty strolls off to do its own thing. Does this make the cat a much more interesting and independent creature? All the evidence would suggest so and this colourful assortment of verse helps make the case. However, before we get over-slushy and sentimental on the topic of cats (which is easy to do) one or two interesting facts are worth considering. It's thought that every year the average domestic cat kills up to forty small feathery or furry creatures. But remember their antecedents included the sabre-toothed tiger and apologists will tell you they are still only doing what comes naturally. And did you know that researchers at Bristol have found that cat owners tend to be more intelligent than dog owners? Not because of close contact with the wily pussies but simply because they have been better educated, tend of work longer hours and so have less time to spend with their pets; thus the low maintenance, independent moggie best fits requirements.

Saleha Begum is a writer and artist living in Birmingham. She was short-listed for the Muslim Writers award in 2011. 'Ruptures and Fragments', her first collection, combines poems with visual art. Drawn from a wide variety of sources and experiences, the poems explore human relationships, sometimes joyous, sometimes brutal, and the psyche, diving deep into the human condition, sorting and arranging, compartmentalising the external and what we are. This collection might leave the reader in a quandary but it will no doubt intrigue and encourage debate.

I have been a medium for many years and I have been blessed to be given the gift of inspirational verse. In addition to the spiritual verses I have received, I have also been given many humorous verses from my dad, Bill Nelson who passed over to spirit in 1985. When I decided to have the book With Love from My Spirit Friends published I knew dad would love to have his work put into print. When I checked I only had forty pages of his work and thought I needed at least another fifty pages, within a month I had been given the extra pages, so I guess dad did want his verses printed. They are full of his humour and I hope this book can bring the same fun and laughter to others that I have enjoyed over the years.

This collection of Ashok Sawhny's poems seems more introspective and diversified than his earlier work. It also covers the full spectrum of life's emotions, desires, failings & frustrations and, while it rightly offers no solutions, it does deal with the need for each one of us to reach our destinies and find our own paths to happiness. An observant onlooker you must be, and see where she takes you, Destiny.

I have been a medium for many years and have been blessed to be given the gift of inspirational verse. The verses have brought comfort to people over the years and are read out in many spiritual churches. I have felt for some time that they should be made available to a larger audience, to help to bring peace of mind and reassurance to those who have lost loved ones or who are perhaps experiencing difficult times in their life. The verses are simple and honest, with a truth that touches us all, I have cried many times when I have read the words I have been given from my spirit workers. I hope this book can bring the same joy to other people, that I have experienced over the years that I have received them.

"Why do stories come into one's head, or odd names or first lines? Perhaps deep in the brain there is a part that makes things up and they occasionally pop out if the stimulus is right. If nothing else is occupying the mind then the idea can be developed. Most of my poems are written at one sitting, with later tweaks. I use the form to be able to be more adventurous with words and to use the end of lines and the beginning of new ones to highlight a word or re-enforce an idea. Inspiration comes from events or sights or just thoughts. Often one works with a picture in one's head. An illustration therefore is sometimes a natural extension. I hope those included will add rather than detract from the reader's picture."

My 20 poems relate to fact, fiction, reminiscences, philosophy, humour, inevitable progress of science, human longing for the the past, Indian psyche, human nature, wisdom of age, Nature, cultural upbringing (Unexpected), caste and class.

"There is a poem in the heart of every human being" (Jeannette Slavinski) Is a humble creed forever ringing in loud & clear in the ear of freelance writer Jeannette Slavinski. With her mantra resonating loudly she invited poets to donate their own poems via the web & facebook to help the injured service men & women of war. The Naked Goddess anthology valiantly holds the hearts & minds of many poets from around the world, who have donated their own freestyle poetry under the themes of Love or War. It is a reality book for the people by the people, & through her own words & deeds Jeannette also shares this offering, which has been inspired by a meeting with Hollywood filmstar, Clint Eastwood.

'A national treasure' Daily Express To mark and celebrate National Hedgehog Awareness Week, Pam Ayres has written a less-than-fond farewell from perspective of the 'last hedgehog left on earth' - a delightful, hilarious and thought-provoking elegy to that most beloved inhabitant of the British countryside, the common hedgehog. Pam Ayres' spiky and wonderful creation reminds us that unless we take steps to prevent it, they will soon be far from 'common' indeed: beautifully illustrated by Alice Tait, the poem The Hedgehog sees our hero tell of all the terrible ends his family come to at our own hands - and exactly what we can still do to keep them alive, and see them thrive once more. 'The Last Hedgehog is a little book, but it's an important book and it's a profound book' Graham Norton

Rooted in the Midwest but at home anywhere, Glenna Luschei has spent over fifty years writing and supporting other writers in the midst of adventures that have taken her around the globe. Now in her late eighties and as vibrant as ever, Luschei has crafted a collection that comprises a retrospective of her life: her youth during World War II; her adventures in New Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, and elsewhere; and her ongoing love affair with the arts. Luschei relives highs and lows through these poems and reminds readers to live life to the fullest as we never know if tomorrow will be our last day. Join Luschei as she embraces the gift of living and a life that is full of hope and love rather than regret in this reflective work.

For Cat lovers everywhere, a collection of poems and stories by Cumbrian Poet Jackie Huck, about her feline friends. Beautifully illustrated by painter Pauline Henderson, the poems and stories capture the many characters that have crossed Jackie's path throughout her life. 'Some came as small bundles of whiskers and fur and slept in my arms with a twitch and a purr, others arrived bedraggled and thin from a long weary road and just wandered in.' (Excerpt From 'So Many Cats')

I am awful at keeping a journal and hopeless at blogs. I am infamous amongst my peers for wearing mt heart on my sleeve. So now I am telling my story through this collection of poems and songs. Here my memoirs lie. You may empathise, sympathise, chastise or even be surprised by what you read. Regardless, never judge a book by its cover as not all is what it seems. I hope you will enjoy my random writings and may you be blessed by it.

In Alycia Pirmohamed's debut collection, Another Way to Split Water, a woman's body expands and contracts across the page, fog uncoils at the fringes of a forest, and water in all its forms cascades into metaphors of longing and separation just as often as it signals inheritance, revival, and recuperation. Language unfolds into unforgettable and arresting imagery, offering a map toward self-understanding that is deeply rooted in place. These poems are a lyrical exploration of how ancestral memory reforms and transforms throughout generations, through stories told and retold, imagined and reimagined. It is a meditation on womanhood, belonging, faith, intimacy, and the natural world. 'Pirmohamed is an immensely gifted poet' - Eduardo C. Corral 'An electric, taut, and glimmering achievement' - Aria Aber

An explosive, devastating debut poetry book from the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize

36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem is an urgent, unsettling reckoning with identity - and the violence of identity. For Le, a Vietnamese refugee in the West, this means the assumed violence of racism, oppression and historical trauma.

But it also means the violence of that assumption. Of being always assumed to be outside one's home, country, culture or language. And the complex violence - for the diasporic writer who wants to address any of this - of language itself.

Making use of multiple tones, moods, masks and camouflages, Le's poetic debut moves with unpredictable and destabilizing energy between the personal and political. As self-indicting as it is scathing, hilarious as it is desperately moving, this is a singular, breakthrough book.

What connects a prisoner in Peterhead, in the North East of Scotland with a quarryman in North Wales? How did Ron Egyptian get his nickname? We know all about the Holy Grail, but what about the Knight's other (and some may say even more difficult) quest? Following the successful publication of his story-in-verse 'A Fishy Tail' in 2010, Ballad of the Rocks and other writings, brings together a selection of his other writings in this collection ranging from the serious to the absurd. They are all designed with the spoken word in mind. Dave's passion for improvising and experimenting with words shines through, whether telling the tales of the Ballad of the Rocks, the Other Quest, evoking memories of childhood or creating nonsense verse. For many years he has written, recorded and performed music for theatre, film and live events. He sculpts and creates from slate and stone, working from his workshop alongside other artists at Parc Glynllifon in North Wales. (Artistiaid yr Iard-iard.co.uk). As well as all these activities, Dave uses his creativity to design, develop and deliver creative active training courses and events for all ages.

An Accordion Book doesn’t open, it unfolds. One side is filled with beautiful watercolour images of an animal: sometimes in motion, sometimes at rest. The other is filled with text – poems, descriptions, invocations – inspired by the same animal.Together they work as spells to summon the animal’s spirit. Jackie Morris has painted them using antique watercolours, some from boxes which hadn't been opened for over 150 years, woken from their slumber with a single drop of water.Fox and Otter are the first two Accordions in a series that will go on to include Hare,Owl,Hound and Cat among many others.

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST SINGLE POEM* From the mercurial mind of award-winning poet John McCullough comes his darkest and most experimental book to date. Panic Response puts personal and cultural anxiety under the microscope. It is full of things that shimmer, quiver and fizz: plankton glowing at low tide; brain tissue turning to glass; a basketball emerging from the waves, covered in barnacles. These are poems of uncertainty but also of hope, which move beyond the breathlessness of panic towards luminescence and solidarity.

Conscious Living is a collection of poetry and prose by performance coach and director Kerys Nathan. Presented as a journey of discovery to that which colours the heart, the book looks at the importance of self transformation, so as to embrace every possibility life has to offer. The series of guided thoughts, poems and songs are designed to uplift and inspire creative ability, empower you to live consciously in every moment and remind you of how truly marvelous you already are. Conscious Living asks you to positively question, look within and then work to create a better you.