Hatchery
Preterm babies were first offered care in Victorian side shows. They were first shown in the UK in 1897 at Earl’s Court. Find out more in my chapbook Hatchery from @vpresslit.bsky.social, published on 1 May and available to pre order
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/hatchery.h...
#poetsonbluesky
“The nappies reach the armpits
of the smallest; straps fasten
around their chests.”
From The Tiny Nappy in Hatchery by Elizabeth Osmond @bethosmond.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/hatchery.h...
“Then you put your laptop safely in the fridge
called the consultant Mum
put a kiss at the end of the handover text”
From Hatchery by Elizabeth Osmond @bethosmond.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/hatchery.h...
“Under the ventilator’s spell,
watch the tiny chest rise and fall
into the rhythm of it, the physics
of it, a brief calm.”
From Hatchery by Elizabeth Osmond @bethosmond.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/hatchery.h...
'Something so wild and new in this feeling' – resting among some daffodils.
Poem text: Among the mossy stones When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow Park we saw a few daffodils close to the water-side. We fancied that the sea had floated the seeds ashore, and that the little colony had so sprung up. But as we went along there were more and yet more; and at last, under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful. They grew among the mossy stones about and above them; some rested their heads upon these stones, as on a pillow, for weariness; and the rest tossed and reeled and danced, and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind, that blew upon them over the lake; they looked so gay, ever glancing, ever changing. This wind blew directly over the lake to them. Sarah Doyle, Something so wild and new in this feeling, V. Press 2021 Poems collaged from Dorothy Wordsworth’s Journal
On April 15th 1802, Dorothy Wordsworth recorded the daffodil encounter that inspired her brother's famous poem. I reworked that journal entry to draw out its extraordinary harmonics, in my @vpresslit.bsky.social pamphlet of DW collage poems. The second image highlights DW's gift for music and rhyme.
Still loving our current Featured Publication - Palmer by R.M. Francis
@vpresslit.bsky.social
atriumpoetry.com/2026/03/01/f...
Delighted to share V. Press’s latest news, including new titles and the Poetry Society Free Verse poetry book fair!
Check it out here: vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@handle.invalid
@elenibrooks.bsky.social
@bethosmond.bsky.social
Oof, gorgeous cover! 🪺 Congratulations to @bethosmond.bsky.social on her excellent new pamphlet, 'Hatchery', available to preorder from @vpresslit.bsky.social. It was a privilege to provide professional feedback on an early manuscript, and I was very glad to write an endorsement too. Go Beth! 👏🥳🎉
Now in stock and available to pre-order, Hatchery by Elizabeth Osmond @bethosmond.bsky.social – a chapbook of poetry that is very visceral and very vibrant!
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/hatchery.h...
V. Press is v v delighted to share the publication of grown girl by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social – a chapbook of poetry that is very raw and very hopeful!
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
“I have watched friends lose each other
in piles of dirty dishes,
sinking under unsaid thoughts.”
from grown girl by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
“On the other side of the city
is a girl with the same body as me,
and we are both wearing our own clothes.”
from grown girl by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
Still loving our current Featured Publication - Palmer by R. M. Francis
@vpresslit.bsky.social
atriumpoetry.com/2026/03/01/f...
“I buy my mother Lego daffodils
because I don’t want children.
It is easier to gift a box
of unassembled pieces […]”
from grown girl by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
In honour of #worldpoetryday, I thought I’d share one of the beautiful poems that @poetsarahdoyle.bsky.social read at my book launch last night. ‘Sea Gooseberries’ is from her pamphlet ‘(m)othersongs’, available from @vpresslit.bsky.social
“Eleni is clever, subtly witty and honest to no fault. When poetry is this relatable, it reminds you how sharing your experiences can make another feel understood[...]Very powerful poetry.”
Jemima Hughes on Eleni Brooks' grown girl @elenibrooks.bsky.social vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
“You avoid my eye on the high street;
my brother pulls me into a toyshop,
walks me round a graveyard of us, oblivious.”
from grown girl by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
Have messaged you.
“Today, you showed the sun parts of yourself
that he had never seen
before: soft, raw and cool.”
from grown girl by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
I’m absolutely delighted that the brilliant @poetsarahdoyle.bsky.social will be the guest reader at my online launch of ‘The Way the Water Held Me’ on Friday 20 March (link to book in my bio). I’ve longed admired Sarah’s poetry and am very much looking forward to hearing her read on the night.
@poetsarahdoyle.bsky.social ‘s latest pamphlet, the deeply moving ‘(m)othersongs’, is available to buy from @vpresslit.bsky.social
“You have been asleep for two hours when a kangaroo pouch of pain kicks your uterus awake. You stay still, invisible, but the stopwatch has clicked;”
from grown girl by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
Springing into London Book Fair, new titles, events & review news
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@elenibrooks.bsky.social
@jennyhope.bsky.social
Happy birthday to my NIF ‘An Inheritance’, published in Feb 2020 & shortlisted in The Saboteur Awards. Thrilled that @vpresslit.bsky.social will be publishing my latest NIF too! ‘Bereft of Reason’ will be out later this year 😊
Join V. Press’s editor for her Darling Blue Spring Launch at Script Haven @scripthavenltd.bsky.social in Worcester next Sat, 28 Feb!!!
Daytime Poet/Publisher in Residence with evening reading & open mic
Details: www.sarah-james.co.uk?page_id=184 & fb.me/e/6EXr4EYPe
Now in stock and available for pre-order, ‘grown girl’ by Eleni Brooks @elenibrooks.bsky.social, winner of the V. Press Prize for Poetry 2025-26 – a chapbook of poetry that is very raw and very hopeful.
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/grown-girl...
It was such a treat to hear the wonderful @jennyhope.bsky.social read from her new collection ‘Wild Boar’ last night - her poems are powerful, dark, and visceral. @vpresslit.bsky.social
“Hope writes with a green pen [...] The language is unflinching, raw, and moving as she journeys through the seasons, linking the changes and evolution to those often felt by women as they navigate their lives.”
Pat Edwards, London Grip:
londongrip.co.uk/2026/02/lond...
@jennyhope.bsky.social
“Here, the richness of soil and words fill the mouth, and we discover a delicious blurring of human, animal and natural worlds. Our ‘inner raw’ secrets are unlocked while the moon looks on.” Claire Walker on Wild Boar by @jennyhope.bsky.social sky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/wild-boar....
V. Press is v. v. delighted to announce the publication of Wild Boar by Jenny Hope @jennyhope.bsky.social, a poetry collection that is very visceral and very feminist.
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com