poetry – Claire Culliford – Fiction & Educational Children's Author

Why I’m selling my new book through bricks and mortar book shops for twice the price it retails at in online stores.

Claire Culliford — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 15:34:02 +0000

Today, I finalised the distribution of one of my new books through the worldwide distributor Nielsen, so that it can be purchased in bricks and mortar bookshops. An exciting moment every time. I’m a huge fan of book shops. I have been since I was a small child. In fact, I used to get so excited by being in them that we’d no sooner arrive than my parents had to locate a toilet for me because I got a bit too overwhelmed by all those delicious books and had to cross my legs! I’ve grown of that now, thankfully…

Why do I love book shops? Well, there’s the quiet tranquility of the browsing process. Space just to contemplate the covers that attract you most and then read the back blurb to see if the pages themselves merit further investigation. And the scent and feel of freshly (or conversely, extremely aged) printed paper. Plus the ability to escape into other worlds for just a few moments, taking some respite from the big wide one outside of the shop’s front door (my favourite version of which tends to have a little bell that rings on opening and closing!) And then there’s the knowledge and expertise of those who work in book shops. Their recommendations on what’s good, and what’s not. You don’t generally find anyone but true book lovers behind the counter. Many of them dedicate their life to books, and only books. They deserve to be able to make a living from them. It’s an experience that I like to think all of the children in my life will get to have as they grow up. It’s so very unique.

Today, however, I also got a rude awakening, once again, to the way in which traditional book shops are now fighting to survive in the face of online equivalents. Owing to the quantity of a book’s retail price that is held back by book shops – because of course they have to lease or purchase premises, pay rates, employ staff and so on – I have had to price one of my books at almost twice the price it retails for in stores like Amazon, which operate purely online. £25.99 versus £14.99 to be exact. I didn’t want to do this. And in fact, I’ve done it knowing that as a result, after printing costs, I’ll make but a few pence from each book sale. Yet to price it any higher would risk making it inaccessible to the majority of readers. So sometimes, you have to act on principle. In the new world we’re all creating together (and which my book just happens to have as its title), social impact prevails over profit. If there is a way for more people to access what I write – which is designed to entertain, educate and provide words for both comfort and contemplation – then more access I want to provide. Money doesn’t come in to it. Helping to maintain those things in the world which provide me and many others with beauty, sanctuary and uplift feels more important now than ever.

So, should you be a fan of book shops, and should you want to keep on supporting them (and I very much hope you will), then know that there are many authors out there offering their art up via this route, not because they will get the recompense commensurate with their creative work, but simply because they value the very existence of book shops themselves.

Note to reader: If you fancy a signed copy of ‘A New World’, they’re still just £14.99 P&P included. Drop me an email at claire@claireculliford.com.

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Poetry and Creative Writing for Connection and Wellbeing events

Claire Culliford — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This year, I’ll be running poetry and creative writing workshops for connection and wellbeing once again. These events are designed for teenagers and adults to promote the use of poetry and creative writing as tools for self-expression, releasing challenging emotions, increasing confidence and personal creativity, which is extremely cathartic.

Having trained as a practitioner who deals specifically with treating the effects of trauma, creative writing is proven to be an effective means of maintaining psychological well-being.

The aim of the Connection and Well-being sessions is twofold:

– to help participants feel a greater sense of connection to other people they interact with, and to raise their levels of compassion and resilience

– to provide participants with an extra tool in their wellbeing kit, so that they can use it as and when they feel the need

Please Note: These sessions are not a replacement service for any participants who may be receiving professional help for more serious emotional issues, but are designed to be a valuable supplement to mental health services, and of great benefit in supporting individuals in looking after their overall well-being.

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Rest Easy, Dear Squirrel

Claire Culliford — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 17:38:48 +0000

With its body just lying there, in the road, limp,

Would you stop to give yourself that much time to think?

Or would you, without hesitation, decide,

That you had to help rather than try to hide?

With its face telling you it had cried out in pain,

Would you want to do something, make things right again?

Would you crouch down to whisper that you truly cared,

And that was the reason you were the one there.

With its eyes showing you that the car was a shock,

Would you make sure that upon that stare you did lock

Your own sight so that you could never forget

The moment its body and your heart had met.

With its feet up to protect itself in some way,

Would you vow that beside it you were here to stay?

Would you call on a stranger, for a bag would you ask?

Would they give you one and not their own sadness mask?

With its tail seeming still full of life and of beauty,

Would you reassure it that you would do your duty?

Would you scoop it up carefully, sob as you did,

As its light little form you did a goodbye bid.

Would you go back with your car, place it gently in boot,

Then drive without knowing destination or route?

Would you find some spot with wondrous views all around,

And bury it carefully down in the ground?

Would you wish it much peace, pray to heaven it goes,

Then drive back along the same quiet country road?

Would you take a small piece of its heart home with yours,

And be thankful you had found it forever more.

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Grief

Claire Culliford — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 15:32:55 +0000

There is a bitter sweetness in grief,

for without immense love, nothing would be mourned in death.

That which brings immeasurable pleasure therefore also serves

as the carrier of incredible pain.

And would we love, even knowing this, all over again?

We would, we should, we can and we do.

Loss being an essential part of what makes life rich,

providing perspective, a new vantage point,

an alternative view.

The yang to joy’s yin, heartbreak and sorrow at what is no more,

yet a recollection of the beauty

of what has gone before.

Being alive so brief a voyage,

grief lends us courage

to envelop ourselves in every instant,

to send ourselves fully into existence.

Fearless of the forthcoming,

because the balance between delight and ache

is not ours to manipulate or create,

merely ours to marvel at and undertake.

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Nature Story Trail, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield, Yorkshire

Claire Culliford — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 09:27:44 +0000

It’s finally open! After almost 2 years of work on this incredible collaborative installation in the Best Park in Yorkshire, the Nature Story Trail is here. Briefed to provide a fun, educational story text suitable for both adults and children, the story poem I wrote is accompanied by images by wonderful local illustrator Deb Mason and the amazing sculptress Heather Crompton. Enjoyable and informative for all the family, and a great way of interacting with and appreciating the natural world, come along to Beaumont Park (HD4 7AY, Yorkshire) for a visit!

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