Burning Eye Books – serie

Unashamed follows the journey of the Sunday Times bestselling author and former World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker from graduating with a maths degree being unsure if this poetry thing was even possible, to becoming one of the nation’s favourite poets and having his work viewed by millions all over the globe.A collection of poems taken from sold out shows combined with new work written at a time when that was no longer possible. From the joyful creativity of German compound words to having his prime number poetry shared on [TED.com][1], it took Harry far too long to realise that maths has been as much a part of his work as the poetry. That both are about figuring out the world around us, finding wonder in your surroundings, and searching for connection wherever you can.From school bullying through climate change, via a healthy obsession with falafels and a 10,000th birthday, Harry's love of language and logic has got him through marathons, a cancer diagnosis and potentially ruined his wife’s chances of getting a job in an ice cream shop. Unashamed is a book of heart, humour and hope. It shows what happens when you’re truly able to celebrate all the parts of yourself. [1]: http://ted.com/

This a love letter to real life, however it shows up; an antidote to the highlight reel that is social media, a tribute to the unfinished, the unfiltered, the uncertain.In this debut collection of poetry, stories and questionable choices, Georgie Jones, with her signature wit and warmth, explores the exquisite messiness of modern existence and makes the chaos feel, somehow, like home. She can’t promise any answers, but she can make you feel a little less alone in not having them.

Adaptive Strategies for a Sensitive System is a lovingly disordered field guide for surviving a world that keeps turning up the brightness. Disguised in the respectable badge of a diagnostic title, this is in contrast a poetic log of being too sensitive in a society built for the perpetually unbothered.From violent mornings to dreich late nights, Kate sifts through bedrooms, public transport, supermarkets, her Gran’s house, the surveillance-era optimism of mindfulness apps, and the wild terrain of her own mind- gathering softness, silliness, and unexpected wisdom along the way.With raw energy, wry humour and the stubborn softness of someone who has spent a lifetime feeling like a faulty blue tooth speaker trying to connect, she questions what’s innate, what’s inherited, and why everything seems to be “improving” faster than any of us can adapt. Connection, dislocation, loneliness, identity, social failure, and the strange hope that still glimmers beneath it all; this is a companion for anyone who has ever felt out of alignment with the world’s settings, and is still learning how to stay tender without falling apart.

Bargain Bin Rom-Com is the first collection of poems by Leena Norms. From the politics of ice-cream to the permission slip you didn’t know you needed, this is a tongue-in-cheek look at living on a planet that is filled with both doom and glitter.

The Genesis of this Revolutionary has involved an up-bringing of scientific exactness, complemented by experimental cross-dressing, existential fist-fights and being possessed by the spirit of a relentlessly swearing 17th Century Ranter. Nourished by fermented mysticism and the Devil's Music, Jonny takes us along for the coffee fuelled bicycle ride as he searches for the best poem in the world; beset by complex towel hierarchies, the guilt of a trout sacrificed on the altar of innocence, and numerous erotic encounters.

When Harry Baker first started writing rap infused poetry he was advised to “write about what you know” so instead of writing about killing people, or driving fast cars (over people), he wrote about mathematics.It is not all complex maths and algebra however but throughout Harry applies his mathematician’s mind to conjuring complex rhythms that have to be read out loud to be believed.

Vanessa Kisuule's debut is a poetry collection with a difference: it is a cathartic explosion, an unspooling of long harboured fears and resentment and a delving into ugly and uncomfortable truths. It is a recipe for womanhood that changes with the whim of the seasons and the political climate. It is a feverish fistful of musings, a comedy of errors, an instruction manual, a compass, an overheard conversation in the ladies' loo, whispered secrets over a (second) bottle of wine. It is a lamentation, an homage to fellow women, at once a celebration of things to come and a mourning of things lost. It is a redefinition of what it is to be magical and otherwordly. It exposes the complex and contradictory impulses of the human spirit, the ugly tangle of emotions we must deal with in ourselves and also as a wider society. With frankness, humour and a decided fuck-you to fear, Vanessa digs deeper than she ever has to find something resembling sorcery.

My Body Can House Two Hearts skips across the fragile boundaries of history, culture, relationships, and language. It explores the transitory balance of belonging by tying threads between different places and ideas not often compared. Traverse the poet's perception of her Welsh and Iraqi heritage, her positioning as a woman of colour, and the nuances of feminist action. My Body Can House Two Hearts is a celebration of women's redemptive interdependency and the rejection of patriarchal power.

For younger years and ageless imaginations, this collection pulls together the most fitting pieces from Ash’s three Burning Eye releases, plus other work. In the last year, Ash saw eighty-eight different schools, many of the pupils being too young for Slinky Espadrilles, Strange Keys or Instructions For Outlaws. This collection is for them.

Thalassic contains poems Malaika wrote in response to songs by the band Jakabol with whom she has frequently collaborated. Inspired by their swirling, oceanic riffs, the stories that played out between the strings. Dark and Light, deft and delicate, falling into heavy, raucous noise. Matched with colour illustrations by Andreea Diana Stan, the poems were written during the autumn of 2018. Thalassic was first published as a limited edition in 2020.

Rob Gee worked for twelve years as a mental health nurse before becoming a stand-up poet. When his career as a performer was interrupted by COVID-19, he returned to nursing. The Day My Head Exploded shares the debris of life as a nurse, an inpatient and a writer.

At what point do we figure it out does it get easier will we find the answers will I feel okay?Caitlin O’Ryan’s debut collection is a journey of mirrors smashing and everything we have come to accept being called into question. With deep vulnerability and wit, she invites us to look inside of ourselves and to interrogate what we find there. Fuelled by the times that we are living in, her poems vibrate through the pages, grabbing you with a sense of urgency that says “you are not alone, I also feel this”.Taken from her live performances and featuring her viral poem ‘AT WHAT POINT’ which has amassed millions of views online and culminated in her being invited onto BBC Woman’s Hour, this book will light a fire in you that will continue to burn long after you have put it down.

In her second collection, award-winning poet and playwright Rosy Carrick presents a passionate, lyrical and unflinchingly intimate collage of ruptured memory, drowned childhood, irreducible violence, and the intoxicating chimera of inviolable desire.Experimental and playful, the poems dart across a fractured and eclectic terrain: from quantum mechanics, grimy London sex clubs and fridged women to blood retinal barrier corruption, haunted reservoirs and salted gastropods; from Baudrillard’s semiotics to the architectural aspirations of Elizabeth Bennet; from gurning infants to ecstatic glitter and misplaced canine arseholes; and always back to how it might be possible to love from under the rubble.

From the horrors of toddler classes to the complexities of grief, Flanked is a smorgasbord of maternal experience and emotion. A scrutiny of motherhood across generations and an exploration of loss as both heart-wrenching and liberating.Tinged with doubt, regret, guilt, acceptance, joy and love, Flanked captures the intricate dynamics of mother / daughter relationships — where roles morph and history repeats.

Staggering through the heather like a ramfeezled Monarch of the Glen after a night on the randan, Elvis McGonagall is back with his trademark blend of satirical verse, anarchic wit and dazzling Weltschmerz as he takes a spin round Bus-Replacement-Service Britain and beyond. War, famine, pestilence, and Gregg Wallace.What a world. The apricot hellbeast is slouching round The White House, Babylon’s burning and God’s too busy taking selfies and posting TikTok videos to notice. But dinnae fash yersel. Just find a comfy chair, open a bottle of single malt and join Elvis as he desperately searches for some silver lining in the gathering storm clouds. From BYO boozy Bozza bantz to Sir Keir’s karaoke toolshed via Marxist cockerpoos and tech-bro-billionaire bullshit, it’s all here in “Cask Strength”, 5 years’ worth of 50 degree proof poetry – think Ken Dodd’s “Happiness” sung by Leonard Cohen. With pictures for those who don’t like words.

A change is as good as a rest, but change is rarely restful. In her second full collection, Malaika Kegode sits with the transformations we choose and the ones that choose us. Good as a Rest is a collection of poems and stories that explore moments of change – from grief and nature, to finding community in a circle of strangers sharing words. Inspired by life, loss and her experience as a workshop leader and mentor, this is a warm and witty paean to the resilience of the human spirit, and the power of creativity to heal.

Darkly comic and disarmingly relatable, Graveyard of Skinny Jeans doesn’t just entertain – it reflects the anxieties and contradictions of the millennial generation. If you’ve ever felt at odds with the world (or with yourself), Cat Hepburn’s words will not only resonate, they’ll make you feel seen. But don’t be fooled – this is not a comforting collection. It’s a hyper-sensational, twisted ride through the trenches of the modern female psyche; an unflinching portrait of the ways we stumble, shag and sometimes laugh in the face of it all.