Listings of new books published by Tears in the Fence appear on this page.
Winter 2026
Penny Hope – Berlin Lines, Tears in the Fence, Dorset: 2025
‘Multi-layered and multi-voiced, the poems in Penny Hope’s ‘Berlin Lines’ are grounded in the history, language and environment of the city. An ambiguous, fluctuating place in which interpretations and identities shift as boundaries fragment and people reach out to one another across dissimilarities…an enticing and unusual collection of poems. A pleasure to explore’.
Mandy Pannett
‘A daring and very moving group of poems.’
Judith Cair
‘This is powerful poetry of ex-patriation, moving through languages as Penny Hope explores place and herself within the tactility of lived space, primarily that Berlin she “wandered into” many years ago. This book takes us on walks, wends round, tastes the languages of being and belonging, and looks deeply into and at both the world outside and the one that defines our (her) inside. I felt carried along on a journey—tracing lines like paths, pausing in the sonorities of the prose, the lounging, expansive moments which—unpunctuated—suck me in as if I have always been there, in a state of exploration…then Hope returns to the small, sectioned, fragmented poems whose dynamic, swirling energy travels me on until we close, together, against the wall of her final Textile (visual poem). In this manner, Hope’s work echoes Bashō’s Haibun. Berlin Lines zig zags, cuts up, turns back, in a scintillating tug of war and an aesthetic dialogue between the concise, fragmented, haiku-esque poems and the building-like expanses of Hope’s denser, open-ended prose blocks.’
Jennifer K Dick
Summer 2025
Gerald Killingworth – Fabrics, Fancies & Fens, Tears in the Fence, Dorset: 2025
Caroline Maldonado writes: ‘Gerald Killingworth’s biographical details tell us that he has written fantasy novels, novels for children, as well as plays, all reflecting his interest in Elizabethan literature, and in this short collection he gives full range to his imaginative narrative voice to explore themes of place, memory and history. Included here are stories from the near past, of family members, local people – all rooted in a strong sense of place, recounted with familiarity and an intimate knowledge of their speech patterns. He also explores the magic of a ‘deep past’, often rooted in the Dorset landscape where he now lives, always underpinned by the belief: ‘True magic isn’t ready-made/ we need to conjure it, defying all sorts of gloom (Poundbury Wassail). Folklore and dance, archaeology and etymology are all taken by Killingworth, poet/celebrant, to explore the deeper meanings of time and place, their darkness as well as their joy, always with the primacy of the imagination and the reminder: ‘True magic isn’t ready-made, we need to conjure it’. It is conjured throughout this collection.’
Summer 2022
Summer 2023
Louise Anne Buchler – Your Woman is in Pieces, Tears in the Fence, Dorset: 2023
‘I am asserting the very last voice I have to hear.’
Louise Buchler’s poems are as energetic as they are measured, as sensuous as they are harrowing, as raging as they are yearning. In this bold collection of numerous forms, Buchler walks us through exhibitions of trauma related to coming of age, abuse, family, mental illness, and relationships. Her speaker reclaims dissociation, effortlessly calling on ghosts from the past, the present – and perhaps even the future. A spellbinding, thrilling new feminist voice. – Olivia Tuck
Louise Buchler’s poems are brave and tender, aching and passionate and tough all rolling together, and emerging breathless, fresh, wonderful in the newness of the word-world, in the newness of love and rejection, of loss and discovery. These poems celebrate death and renewal. They grow richer and deeper with every new read. – Kobus Moolman
Summer 2024
Alice Spins Her Glitter-Ball by Lesley Burt Cover Artwork by Sonny Wakeling, Tears in the Fence, Dorset: 2024
In this series of brilliant vignettes, Lewis Carroll’s precocious Alice falls into conversation with an extraordinary range of characters – imaginary and real, contemporary and historical. Like the little boy who saw the truth about the emperor’s new clothes, Alice is frighteningly direct, pulling no punches. Her knowledge is encyclopaedic, but her back-story remains that of a Victorian miss who discovered a strange world behind a looking-glass. Lesley Burt takes us into some unsettling mirror worlds herself and herein lies the pleasure of this collection. It is often surreal, always witty and captivatingly inventive, but also philosophical as Alice launches with tremendous confidence into discussions about time and memory, the unreliability of appearances and the power and function of language. We find her, for example, on an International Space Station with Buzz Aldrin, in the public gardens with the Green Man and inside paintings by L.S. Lowry, Edward Hopper and Renoir. Each vignette is rounded off with an apposite quotation from Alice Through the Looking-Glass.
The cover art is by Sonny Wakeling, the writer’s 12-year-old grandson. All proceeds from the book will go into his University Fund Savings Account.
Hari Marini and Barbara Bridger (Eds) SPIRALS: a multilingual poetry and art anthology, Tears in the Fence, Dorset: 2024
This interactive anthology celebrates a ten year project created by the Part Suspended Artist Collective. SPIRALS, a collaborative multidiscipline, multilingual project involving artists with a shared feminist perspective, spanned a decade of activity from 2013 -2023. Using the symbol of a spiral as an inspiration, a series of performance rituals, artistic interventions, performance writing, audio-visual manifestations, online projects, exhibitions and events took place in the UK, Europe and beyond.
The anthology, involving poets and artists from throughout Europe, transcends the constraints of linear time and space, spiraling in and out of temporal boundaries. It initiates conversations that traverse waking and dreaming realms, navigating through cityscapes and landscapes. The interplay between interiority and exteriority creates a rich tapestry that invites contemplation and engagement.
Over a span of 10 years, the anthology gracefully weaves together words, music, bodies, geographies, and sites, crafting a profound understanding of both each other and the contemporary world, whole challenging boundaries of all kinds. […]
This interactive anthology transcends the constraints of linear time and space, spiraling in and out of temporal boundaries. It initiates conversations that traverse waking and dreaming realms, navigating through cityscapes and landscapes. The interplay between interiority and exteriority creates a rich tapestry that invites contemplation and engagement. The anthology serves as a testament to the resilience of human connection with other humans and the more than human, evolving beyond conventional notions of time and space into a harmonious convergence of diverse narratives and shared expressions.’
Sara Matchett, Associate professor at the Centre for Theatre Dance and Performance Studies at the University of Cape Town and Artistic Director of The Mothertongue Project.
Book Reviews
Sam Smith, SPIRALS: A multilingual poetry and art anthology, samsmith&thejournal, July 2024
https://sites.google.com/site/samsmiththejournal/home/reviews-supplementary
How to Order
The book is available to buy through the Pay / Subscribe / Donate page.
Additional Content via QR Code
Readers are invited to scan the QR codes included in the book to access additional content related to the SPIRALS: A multilingual poetry and art anthology including video and sound materials, and other resources.
Further information about SPIRALS
Publications, Live Performances, Installations & Exhibitions, Audio & Video material: https://www.partsuspended.com/productions/current/spirals/
SPIRALS Open Archive: https://www.partsuspended.com/productions/current/spirals-open-archive/
About PartSuspended Artist Collective
PartSuspended artist collective works in a variety of art forms and disciplines. The collective uses a range of performance practices to explore the intersection between artistic creation and various aspects of contemporary life. PartSuspended’s work draws on personal and collective experiences, everyday life, social space and architecture in an attempt to imagine new possibilities for feminist action. PartSuspended is particularly interested in feminist work that asks questions and challenges conventional boundaries and forms. Their work is multimedia, multilingual and multidisciplinary.
In 2006, Hari Marini co-founded PartSuspended as a dynamic platform on which to foster performances, live art, video-work, installations, writing, participatory workshops and collaborations with artists from a variety of disciplines. The collective has presented their work to a variety of venues, symposia, conferences, online platforms and international festivals in the UK, USA, Spain, Greece, Serbia, Czech Republic.
