New Voices, a showcase anthology of poetry from the West Midlands, has been published by Offa’s Press. It is edited by publisher Simon Fletcher, and includes poetry by Tom Allsopp, from Hednesford, Staffordshire; Anne Babbs, a member of Bilston Writers Group; Gracey Bee, a Wolverhampton-based performance poet; Santosh K Dary, a member of the Punjabi Women’s Group; Priyanka Joshi, a Wolverhampton performance poet; Kenton Samuels, Wolverhampton poet and writer; and Fraser Scott, a member of Bilston Writers Group.

Picture shows, from left: Simon Fletcher (editor) Kenton Samuels, Gracey Bee, Tom Allsopp, Santosh K Dary, Kuli Kohli (the new poet laureate of Wolverhampton), Anne Babbs, Priyanka Joshi and Fraser Scott.

Offa’s Press publishes and promotes West Midland poetry and poets through publications and performances, with the watchword “good on the page and good on stage”. It receives some development funding from Arts Council England and is run as a co-operative, with Simon Fletcher the editor/manager.

PHOTOGRAPH: OFFA’S PRESS