I’ve been meaning to write about Candlestick Press for ages, ever since they sent me a selection of their poetry collections. And then I moved house and it didn’t happen, and here we are a whole bunch of months later. Luckily my friend Lorna gave me a copy of Ten Poem About Tea for my birthday a while go, and I’ve finally gotten around to mentioning them. (And no, she didn’t give this to me during Lent – that would be too cruel during my tea fast.)
Candlestick Press market their little collections as being ‘instead of a card’, and I think that’s a great idea. Cards have become so bizarrely expensive, considering they’re just a piece of card folded in two – and I suspect the designers and illustrators (who do deserve to be rewarded for their work) are not the ones seeing the bulk of the profits. Sending something like a Candlestick Press poetry book gets the greeting message across and won’t end up in the recycling after a few days.
They’ve done a nice job in selecting poems. I didn’t know most of the names in this one, but that is offset by Thomas Hardy and John Betjeman. I don’t know if any poems are written specially for this collection, but I love the idea of all the poems being inspired by Britain’s favourite drink. Some are funny, some are philosophical – and Hardy’s is a moving and cleverly simple snapshot of a love lost.
They do any number of topics, from bicycles to birds and breakfast to brothers. And even some things that don’t begin with ‘b’. Have a look for yourself, and see if your bookshop stocks them – I think they’re a great alternative to a card, and useful for a poetry novice like me to have a low-stakes way of reading some poems.
I love these little books – I bought Ten Poems About Scotland for one of my daughters, who lives in London, many hundreds of miles from the land of her birth.
They are stocked by the wonderful Lighthouse Books (formerly Word Power Books) in West Nicholson Street here in Edinburgh. And I agree, so much better than a standard card, and not that much more expensive.
Good old Edinburgh! I knew it wouldn’t disappoint.
A tea fast during Lent?!
No tiny exceptions? Not even on Mothering Sunday?
You’ve got my full admiration! I could never do that, I’d rather wear a hair shirt … ;)
I’ve subscribed to LentPilgrim and try do do more seasonal/organic shopping during Lent.
That’s a good idea! And I did toy with excluding Sundays, but I didn’t want to have to go through intense withdrawal symptoms every Monday…
I think these are wonderful – I have a couple including a recently issued one with Ten Russian Poems which of course is absolutely perfect for me! :D
Haha, of course you do!
Thanks for the link, Simon! There’s no way they would be sold around here, but Amazon.com carries them so I’ll be ordering some soon. Just love the idea!
Oh, lovely!
Instead of a card! That’s such a dear and lovely way to advertise a little poetry book, I love it!
Isn’t it a delight?
What a wonderful idea of these books instead of cards. I wonder if they are available in Australia. We would probably need to find an equivalent here or order them online from the UK. I will be more aware next time I’m in my favourite bookshop. 🤠🐧
Our local bookshop stocks these and they are perfect for that person you don’t quite need a present for but. . .