We Could Be Swifts ...

Hello Balloonists!

I think the guys at Kendal Post Office are fed up with me already.

It’s the end of December, Sky Surfing: Excellent Adventures in a Poetry Balloon has just been launched by Yorkshire Times Publishing and I’ve sent around eighty contributor copies to poets, artists and reviewers in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada and the US.

The anthology, kindly funded by that lovely and talented man Colin West, is the Dirigible Balloon’s second publication (Chasing Clouds being the first). It is a labour of love publicising the wealth of poetic/artistic talent creating wonderful stuff for kids. Funds generated from book sales will be donated to Juvenile Arthritis Research (JAR).

Since Colin got in touch with an offer to help out last year, our plan was to get the book out earlier in the autumn with a longer lead into Christmas (but here we are, coming into the New Year). Richard Trinder at the Yorkshire Times has been brilliant in the process (unflappable, positive and reassuring at all times). The support from the poets and artists has been phenomenal. The printers have bent over backwards to get us to a stage where we are massively proud of the final version of the book.

For those who would like to order a copy of Sky Surfing, a shop will be appearing here on the Dirigible Balloon website very soon.

Hope you all have a lovely New Year.

With best wishes,
Jonathan Humble
Editor Dirigible Balloon