Title: Cigarettes In Bed

Author: Adelle Stripe

Date: October 2009

Publisher: Blackheath Books

Website: www.blackheathbooks.org.uk

ISBN:ISBN-10: 1-906099-17-0  / ISBN-13: 978-1-906099-17-6

Blackheath Books is pleased to announce the publication of Cigarettes In Bed, the second collection of poetry by British writer Adelle Stripe.

This reflective, drowsy and lyrical collection is the final full stop to Stripe’s urban works which began with her debut collection Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid, published by Blackheath in 2008.

Cigarettes In Bed is an exploration of geography, history and people. Unlike many writers associated with the poetry underground, Stripe favours traditional forms, crafting haikus, couplets, and sonnets with a distinctive modern language. Inspired equally as much by the wilderness poets of Ancient China as she is by Coleridge and Blake her clear and concise diction is applied to the landscapes of The North – and the people who live within it. 

Having recently left London where she was a key player in the music and literature scenes (she managed bands and edited the acclaimed literary journal Straight From The Fridge) Adelle Stripe now lives in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire.

In 2006, Stripe was also a founding member of The Brutalists, a group of young writers who gained coverage for their back-to-basics approach to poetry. Dogmatika called their debut work “a symphony of the housing estates” while The Guardian wondered “are we witnessing the creation of literary history right under our noses? The Brutalists’ debut co-written collection Nowhere Fast was published in 2008.

Described as “a bestial Isabella Blow”, Adelle Stripe’s PVC-clad, punk rock-inspired stage performances have secured her position as a leading light in the contemporary poetry scene, with acclaimed performances at venues and literary festivals across the country.

Cigarettes In Bed comes as a highly limited chapbook complete with individually ‘hand burned’ holes in the cover. No two editions are the same, making it instantly collectible.

Blackheath Books is fast becoming a stable for the best in new, underground and alternative writing. Blackheath publish hand-made publications using traditional letterpress methods and 100% recycled paper. Early editions are now highly sought-after amongst book collectors. Recent authors published include Billy Childish, Vic Templar, Graham Bendel, Ben Myers, Joseph Ridgwell and many others.

3:AM POETRY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2009

Quotes about Adelle Stripe

 

‘If you haven’t read her work I suggest you do. It is poetry that is real and progressive and I can’t wait for a publisher to stick out their neck and publish this rising star.’

- Lee Rourke, author of Everyday and The Canal

 

‘In her poems she brings delicious beauty to lick the quiet smoke.’

- Charles Plymell, Beat writer and founder of Zap Comix

 

‘A ferocious work of such tender intricacies, as to evade any simple reading…Stripe’s work is illuminating, extraordinary, beautifully complex and entirely poignant.’

- Heidi James, author of Carbon

 

‘Stripe’s work is vivid, accessible and refreshingly cliché free.  Expect a bruised intimacy and turns of phrase which will stay with you for a long time.’

 - Graham Duff, writer and creator of BBC2’s Ideal