The Emma Press Anthology of Age: Poems About Ageing

By Emma Dai'an Wright

We're all ageing, all of the time. As a society we're getting even older, but we seldom seem to stop and think about the huge mental and physical changes that happen to us as we get old, or what it's like to live as an old person. The Emma Press Anthology of Age is a collection of poems which challenge, celebrate and give age a voice, finding humour amidst the heartbreak and comfort within the pain.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Emma Press
• Release date: Sep 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910139257

Emma Dai'an Wright

Emma Dai'an Wright (1986) is a British-Chinese-Vietnamese publisher and illustrator. She worked in ebook production at Orion Publishing Group before leaving in 2012 to set up The Emma Press with the support of the Prince's Trust. She has since published over 500 writers across more than 70 books, including poetry anthologies for adults and children, short stories, and translations. In 2016 The Emma Press won the Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlet Publishers. She lives in Birmingham.

Book preview

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The Emma Press Anthology of Age

Poems about Ageing

Edited by Sarah Hesketh

With poems from Sophie F Baker, Aileen Ballantyne, Clare Best, Julia Bird, Sharon Black, Alison Brackenbury, Jo Brandon, Gavin Bryce, Jane Burn, Oliver Comins, Nathan Curnow, Isobel Dixon, Hugh Dunkerley, Robert Hamberger, Rachel Heimowitz, Hilaire, Lynn Hoffman, Holly Hopkins, Sandra Horn, Emma-Jane Hughes, Russell Jones, Melinda Kallasmae, Anja Konig, Joan Lennon, Harry Man, Amy McCauley, Bridget McKenzie, Rob Miles, Cheryl Moskowitz, Jed Myers, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Susan Taylor and Edward Venning.

Illustrated by Emma Wright.

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The Emma Press

Copyright

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by the Emma Press Ltd

Poems copyright © individual copyright holders 2015

Selection and introduction copyright © Sarah Hesketh 2015

Illustrations copyright © Emma Wright 2015

All rights reserved.

The right of Sarah Hesketh to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Print ISBN 978-1-910139-31-8

e-ISBN 978-1-910139-25-7

A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

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Contents

Cover

Title page

Copyright

Introduction by Sarah Hesketh

Nel Mezzo, by Anja Konig

Holding a Stranger’s Hand, by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

Long After Dad Was Grey, by Melinda Kallasmae

I’ve heard of age : how it gobbles the time, by Amy McCauley

Outside the Pub, Hurricane Bawbag, by Russell Jones

The Concert, by Sharon Black

Remembrance, by Russell Jones

Epigenesis, by Edward Venning

Saying My Name, by Robert Hamberger

Kennings, by Bridget McKenzie

The Storm, by Hugh Dunkerley

Last Rites, by Rachel Heimowitz

Knowing the Prognosis, by Clare Best

In the Wars, by Isobel Dixon

Tipping Point, by Holly Hopkins

All Change, by Susan Taylor

Lethe and the Nightingale, by Julia Bird

My Camel, by Emma-Jane Hughes

Hands, by Robert Hamberger

Wood I Gather, by Jed Myers

A Woman Counts Alone in Flat 33, by Sophie F Baker

Waltz, by Hugh Dunkerley

Christmas Lunch at the Nursing Home, by Hilaire

Watching, by Jane Burn

8 a.m., by Alison Brackenbury

Raised Beds, by Rob Miles

Bride, by Gavin Bryce

Survivor, by Isobel Dixon

In the Garden, by Aileen Ballantyne

Soon, by Harry Man

First It’s Just a Couple of Bricks, by Anja Konig

Last Lights, by Lynn Hoffman

Swan Song, by Oliver Comins

Drought, by Cheryl Moskowitz

Dead Penguins, by Nathan Curnow

On the Ferry, by Sandra Horn

To Dust, by Jo Brandon

Later, by Joan Lennon

Acknowledgements, about the editor and illustrator and about the poets

About the Emma Press

Introduction

We’re all ageing, all of the