Mouthmark – serie

What elevates 'teaching my mother how to give birth', what gives the poems their disturbing brilliance, is Warsan Shire's ability to give simple, beautiful eloquence to the veiled world where sensuality lives in the dominant narrative of Islam; reclaiming the more nuanced truths of earlier times - as in Tayeb Salih's work - and translating to the realm of lyric the work of the likes of Nawal El Saadawi. As Rumi said, "Love will find its way through all languages on its own"; in 'teaching my mother how to give birth', Warsan's debut pamphlet, we witness the unearthing of a poet who finds her way through all preconceptions to strike the heart directly. Warsan Shire is a Kenyan-born Somali poet and writer who is based in London. Born in 1988, she is an artist and activist who uses her work to document narratives of journey and trauma. Warsan has read her work internationally, including recent readings in South Africa, Italy and Germany, and her poetry has been translated into Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

A debut poetry publication.

The second in the ground-breaking mouthmark series, 13 Fairy Negro Tales is a vibrant pamphlet of contemporary poetry. In language scooped directly from a paintbrush, Inua Ellams announced his arrival on the poetry scene, with what has become a runaway bestseller. Written in language that has roots in Keats, hip hop rhymes and Shakespearean narrative, 13 Fairy Negro Tales has sold over 2000 copies since its release.

Winner of the Poetry Book Society (PBS) Pamphlet Choice for Summer/Autumn 2006, Jacob Sam-La Rose's debut chapbook displays the maturity of a poet who has honed his art through the time-honoured method of reading, writing, sharing, critiquing and rewriting. His poems exhibit a sense of awe and comfort at once, drawing the reader into a circle where even the familiar becomes new again. Critics have commented on his 'brave and often audacious willingness to experiment with form allows the reader to explore an impressive variety of subtle relationships'. What underlines Jacob's achievement is the fact that he achieves all this is a small volume of 17 poems and an ethereal 5-poem suite - his tribute to his childhood pastime - basketball. Jacob Sam-La Rose is a poet and educator of Guyanese parentage. A former Poet-in-Residence at BBC London, he is a touring writer with the British Council, with appearances at international venues including Kiasma - the Museum of Contemporary Art (Finland), Mylos Theatre (Greece) and the Center of Contemporary Art in Glasgow.Jacob has performed at a broad range of literature and arts festivals, including The URB festival (Helsinki), The Word: London Festival of Literature 2001 (the Underglobe, London), the Bay Lit festival (Cardiff), the Portobello Festival and the Bath Literature Festival.