In this companion volume to their earlier collaboration, 'Recollections', Giles Watson's poems and Martin Williamson's photographs combine to evoke the changing moods of the seasons of a British year from one winter to another.

The fourteenth century Welsh bard, Dafydd ap Gwilym, left a lasting impression on the poetry of his age: verse which often addressed preoccupations we still share today. This collection includes love poems, a lament for a felled tree, extravagant praises for wealthy patrons - including the Welsh freedom-fighter Owain Glyndwr - scurrilous satires on friars, newfangled harps and prickly beards, a curse on a violent husband, and Gwerful Mechain's unapologetically explicit song of praise for her own genitals. Giles Watson's lively reinterpretations in modern English give a strong impression of the vivacity and daring of the originals. Some of the poems contain explicit language, reflecting the earthy humour of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

88 feet below Messines Ridge, an enormous charge of explosives lurks in the darkness, waiting to be detonated under the German trenches, whilst members of the Royal Irish Rifles prepare for the attack. Sapper John McCreesh entertains himself and his fellow miners with stories of the Morrigan, the war-goddess of the ancient Irish: stories which hold up a disturbing mirror to the lives of the men around him. Corry-Burnett, a young Lance-Corporal, must lead a trench raid in order to ascertain whether German miners are aware of the imminent danger, but one of his men is already a shell-shock victim whose conviction has been shaken by violence. Meanwhile, Siobhan O'Flaherty, a nursing sister, copes on a daily basis with the horrific injuries and psychological traumas of the victims of war. Her brooding, enigmatic presence and her strange connection with a pair of ravens will intrigue and mystify readers, as her feminine strength is mustered in a world dominated and traumatised by masculine power.

From legends of the Furies to the shower scene from 'Psycho', from the gentleness of Melangell to the fury of Andraste, this collection explores folk-tales and myths through a range of different voices. Giles Watson's dramatic monologues and idiosyncratic poetic narratives are complemented by beautiful and often unsettling illustrations by Buffarches.

A new translation of the fourteenth century Middle English poem. (Please note: although the illustrations are in colour in the preview, they are black and white in the printed copy.)

The Butcher's Wife has an extraordinary secret: amongst the slaughtered animals which are hung each day in the cellar of her house, there are some which still have souls imprisoned inside their carcasses. Deprived of her freedom and identity by an abusive husband, she must draw upon her own resources in her struggle to set the dead things free, and seek her own source of tenderness in the midst of hideous violence. Front cover picture by Buffarches. Genre: horror/magical realism. Contains scenes of strong violence and coarse language.

Illustrated with pictures from late eighteenth and early nineteenth century natural history books, A New Holland Miscellany is a series of poetic monologues which narrate encounters between colonial settlers and the Australian flora and fauna. A host of voices - explorers, scientists, artists, convicts, physicians, soldiers, escapees and free settlers - are brought to life with energy, pathos and humour.

These 99 paraphrases of the works of the fourteenth century Welsh poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym, explore the extraordinary diversity of his work, from poems inspired by love and nature, through scathing self-examinations and bitter satires, to poems in praise of literary patrons. The style, humour and cadences of Dafydd's work can never be satisfactorily translated, but the interpretations in this volume are a tribute to the genius of the master bard. (Please note: although the illustrations are in colour in the preview, they are black and white in the printed copy.)