Book published on May 8th 2025 Publisher: Verve Poetry Press ISBN: 978 1 913917 82 1 80 pages • 216 x 138 • 34 poems Giovanni Esposito, better known as SPOZ, is a poet, writer, performer, musician and (mainly armchair) activist from Birmingham. He works a lot in schools as a poetry and ‘slam poetry’ workshop, and project, facilitator. He has written and produced plays and musicals for theatre and film and was Birmingham’s Poet Laureate in 2006/7, which was nice. This is his second collection for a 15+ readership and has some older, previously unpublished work as well as lots of new stuff. ‘Clever, moving and packed with sharp humour, Spoz’s new poetry collection delivers refreshing honesty and accessibility whilst still packing a punch. There’s something for everyone.’ Katherine Priddy ‘Spoz’s work has spikey hair, carries a megaphone and wears a f**k the system T-Shirt. And just like Spoz himself, beneath the spikes and the noise, inside it, there sits a thumping heart full of a drive and passion big enough to try and change the world.’ Steven Camden AKA Polarbear ‘I wish we were allowed to read poems like this at school. Spoz is a legend wordsmith and top bloke.’ Lindsey Santoro ‘A major contribution to English literature’ John Cooper Clarke

Book published on May 8th 2025 Publisher: Verve Poetry Press ISBN: 9781913917685 Weight: 117 g Dimensions: 216 x 138 mm “Holly Winter-Hughes’ visceral writing turns the human form inside-out, mapping the contours of trauma, abuse and hard-won resilience. It urges the reader to follow and ‘Breathe deep to the creak of your heartwood’. Darkly imaginative and pearled with fresh phrase-making, these are poems that compel attention and linger.” John McCullough “Holly’s poetry leaves red shapes on my skin, and teeth marks. Unapologetically incandescent images twist tightly and then open into wide, revelatory spaces. The thin blade of a plastic-handled knife flashes in the dark of cold-roomed poems, but beside my shoulder as I read there is always an older, kinder spirit. It says, ‘Look – this, yes, and this.’ And yet, somehow, the spirit is still singing. I love this collection.” Tom Hirons “Holly writes with the whiplash of thunder.” Antony Owen “An electrifying poet with Plath-like power and potency. Such fire!” Anna Saunders