Circle Bird Press

‘Volume One’ is available for pre-order with a FREE ZINE! We’re so excited to announce the existence of our first ever poetry anthology. Inside we’re giving you a charming collection of poetry written by beloved writers and artists around Brighton from various different disciplines. We’re so proud of this collection and glad to bring it to you in a tangible book that you can keep forever. Better yet, if you want to be part of the pre-order gang you’ll get a free zine. We’ve popped the link in our bio for your easy access. The writers featured in this first book are: @jamie_or_broughton @willow.bumble @vi_o_let__ @thegentmobile @oscarjamesgodfrey @mr.woody.green @tom.oleander @night.fleur @francesjoymacgregor @beanqueenk8 @billy1m @constancenashnashnash @joanieomara @andnowpete @billredshaw_ @ellaoonarussell @itskathleensavage @nooka_shepherd @zosiiasz @ragtamm_ @darlingvinciguerra @petrina.purl @hugowinderlind @ninawinderlind @freddiejwatts Cover designed by @mr.woody.green and @oscarjamesgodfrey

On behalf of the circle bird press community, @tom.oleander will be running a poetry workshop as part of @akinsoul ‘s beautiful event that is happening THIS SATURDAY. The workshop will take place at the beautiful @future_roots_brighton site, in collaboration with @cultureofcare_events . The workshop will be taking place at 3:15 in the yurt. If possible please bring your own pen and paper for this workshop!

A new interview is now live on our substack - a chat between one of our circle bird poets, @tom.oleander , and the award winning poet Jenny Mitchell. The article looks at how poetry can be used for both personal and community focused healing. The link can be found in our bio.

Support us AND your local bookshop by grabbing a copy of 'Volume One' in store! On sale at @citybooksbookshop and @kemptownbookshop in Brighton. You can also order online via our website. Order before the 16th December to recieve before Christmas ⭐️

@only_just_arrived shares 'Through Pillows, On To A Tongue' as this week's Poet of The Week. Delve into the surrealism of dreams, the mismatched wordplay and mirroring takes the reader into the mind of a dreamer. Check out our archive of poetry from previous poets of the week via the link in bio now.

'Post-Luminescence' by @landartseapoetry . Another beautiful dreamscape by our featured poet of the week. Sensuous yet distant AJ Layton details the call of lust in dreams, the call of the sea, the landscape and bedroom. Hit the link in bio to see more poems like this in our archive.

@joanieomara kick starts our dream series with “Returning.” A poetic merging of past and present, she brings the surreal into waking, exploring what it means to grow up. Read the full blog on Substack, link in bio 🗝

It’s getting chilly so we’re locking in to bring you something to read by your electric heater this winter…stay tuned @joanieomara made us soup, guess the flavour to win a free zine!

@victoriaspires_poetry shares "Uncovering the Poetics of Inner Rage" as this week's poem of the week. Victoria kick starts our Dream Series. Circle Bird will be deep diving into the dream world over the next few weeks, exploring the abundance, humour, grief, self exploration and silliness that dreams bring forth. Dreams allow us to experience ourselves in ways inaccessible in waking life. Written with the deftness of an accomplished writer, Victoria articulates the innate poetry of a significant dream in "Uncovering the Poetics of Inner Rage." Taking us through a purgatory of reoccurring dreams where the dreamer - caught, “bloodless”, and afraid - is unable to speak until she arrives, finally, in the safety of an older mind. Writing with a gentleness spiked with the echoes of old feelings, Spires ends the poem rendering rage as an indifferent companion: a soft but heavy jellyfish that does not terrorise her, but waits. Spires twists the past and the present, expressing the solace of existing in a mature mind. The “comfortably middle aged” writer can speak, let go of the youthful concern of being liked and overcome the powerful pressures to say yes despite wanting to say no. “Uncovering the Poetics of Inner Rage” taps into the rich beauty of adulthood where one can feel all that there is to feel without letting the destructive aspects of challenging emotions render her speechless. An excerpt reads: “the rage blooms palely, like the softness of jellyfish waiting silent and heavy; and I don't feel afraid, and I don't feel afraid, and I don't feel afraid.” To experience the poem yourself head over to our Bird’s Nest. Link in bio. Victoria is shortlisted/commended in Ledbury, Plough Prize, Rialto (Third place) and a winner of the Alpine Fellowship Poetry Prize. You can find her pamphlet at @salopress .

BTS of Circle Bird HQ Footage taken from a serious and proper meeting. Early summer, 2025

Poet of the week @asherpenney explores living with a long-term illness in his poem ‘Yellow Flavoured Axe.’ Asher’s signature spoken-word style poem confronts the reader with a real truth, “belly river rotten with the thickest of molds,  living with a liver disease,  chopping away at me,  gives a different meaning to the feeling, of fear,” ‘Yellow Flavoured Axe’ is a brave eruption from a brave mind. With imagery of rot, war and falling it comes as a bittersweet surprise to find that the poem ends with the expression of gratitude. This poem is significant, it provides evidence that the battles we fight privately are real possessions in our spiritual menagerie. We all acquire growth and lesson from our personal trials and we each have the capacity to hold that which weakens us in some ways in balance with that which strengthens us in others. Asher’s poem is honest, brutal, forgiving. It allows us insight into the strong-minded. It is a soothing balm to others who suffer similarly. It is an education to those who do not suffer with long-term illness. It is an important voicing from an important poet. Read it on our Bird’s Nest section of the website via the link in our bio. Asher hosts a poetry night at @deadwaxsocial on Bond Street every other Wednesday. Catch the next @deadwaxpoetsociety on the 10th December.

‘Tracks’ by poet of the week @slwilson is ready to read online NOW. Exploring the surreal in the fog of reality, Sophie brings her signature, modern gothic style to the chill of mid autumn. Recorded in Postman’s Park, ‘Tracks’ is read aloud to a cold London. The ambient sound of the city compliments the tone of a poem that depicts the strange reality of a person who walks through life with their mind in dreams and their feet in the city. An excerpt reads: ‘If I don’t let these birds out soon, I fear I’ll spend the rest of my life Chewing on cardboard When what I really want are oysters’. Experience the poem yourself via the link in bio.