Cerasus Poetry: End of Year Roundup 2022

It’s the time of year when Top 10 lists tend to get published, so let’s start with a rundown of our best selling publications since our inauguration in 2018:

10^th: ‘My Brain In All Its Perfidious Beauty’, a compilation of entries from the 2020 Poetry Olympics competition which was won by Mark (Kilb50) Kilburn.

9^th: ‘Ghost And Found’ by Eleanor May Blackburn, who is a talented actress as well as poet.

8^th: ‘According To The Dandelions’ by John Wilks, a childhood themed collection whose profits are donated to Children In Need.

7^th: ‘A Snake Charmer’s Assistant’ by Sophie Norton, a surreal modernist work by a runner-up in the Poetry Olympics.

6^th: ‘The Coveted’ by Laura Jane Round, the first of our chapbook collections.

5^th: ‘I Dreamt I Wrote Another Me’ by Alex Smith, detailing life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

4^th: ’33.9 Million Miles From Lyme Regis’ by Laurie Avadis, a savage and witty view of contemporary relationships.

3^rd: ‘Waiting For Another Velvet Morning’ by Julia Macpherson, a posthumous compilation about her mental health struggles, with profits going to the charities MIND and the Compassionate Friends.

2^nd: ‘Crown Of Eggshell’ by Rachel Deering, whose natural world metaphors have proved to be our most consistent seller.

1^st: ‘I Am From Stargazing On Rooftops’ by Michelle Fulkerson, which was only released at the end of July 2022 and has already outsold all our other titles. A memorial to another young woman who died far too soon.

If we included our quarterly CERASUS magazine in the list, then issues 6 and 7 would take 7^th and 9^th places.

There are a number of titles in the pipeline to be released soon, so next year’s top 10 could be quite different. Look out for:

‘Bedding Plants For My Father’ – Alex Barr.
‘Hunter In A World Of Farmers’ – Alfie Shoyger.
‘Blank Slate’ – Elisabeth Horan.
‘Light’ - John Grey.
‘In Search Of A Subject’ – John Short.
‘Calamity Gospel’ – Kyle Vaughn.
‘I Think I’d Rather Roar’ – Matthew Freeman.

Poetry books are something of a niche Xmas present, so we’re not going to hustle you with a hard sell. We’ve got used to the concept that small press publishing is a remarkably efficient way to spend all our spare time on a venture to lose money.

If you have the inclination, check out our full list of titles and pay special attention to the ones we haven’t mentioned. They’re just as good as the others and deserve to be read.

Books – Cerasus Poetry