Diamond Twig is a small press launched in 1992 by Ellen Phethean and Julia Darling, to publish vibrant new writing by women in the North East of England. Our publications include The Ropes, a collection of poems chosen to appeal to young people, and nineteen titles in the Branch Lines series: pocket sized books in stylish black-and-white livery, launching new women writers into print.
Our books have a reputation for style and quality and our authors have a reputation for going far — keep track of them from our site! We are proud to act as a launch pad for our authors, many of whom have gone on to have further work published elsewhere.
Each month the Diamond Twig Editors select a poem that they find wonderful, interesting, challenging, and fresh. July's poem is Bonds by Jo Reed.
Ellen's News
The Durham Mysteries - to which Ellen Phethean contributed a hip-hop telling of the story of Cain and Abel, created in collaboration with her sons (read about the work-in-progress in Ellen's diary) were performed at the end of May 2010. Ellen says " Cain and Abel was a triumph - all the dancers and actors upped their performance 200% and all the technical wizardry worked - so we had flames for the offering and the Tag mysteriously creating itself on the LED screen. My son Fred and I wrote the words, and my son Johnny created all the music - we are the Von Rap family. We are told there will be a DVD available of the Mysteries - contact the Gala Theatre for more details. We hope to perform it again at a festival or suitable venue - watch this space." Read more in Ellen's diary.
Ellen Phethean's poetry collection, Breath, is published by Flambard Press. This work is largely the result of her part-time creative writing MA at Newcastle University, which helped her through the last few years, after the death of her husband Keith Morris, and Julia, within two months of each other in 2005. To quote the book cover: "These poems explore love, loss and the life that insists we carry on", but Ellen says they also contain candid observation and humour.
Breath has been shortlisted for the London New Poetry Award, 2009. Award organiser Anne-Marie Fyfe explains: "Now London - magnet for aspiring poets, proving-ground for first-timers reading in bars, basements, cafés and community centres, meeting place for writers, critics, poetry movements and myriad small press and pamphlet publishers - is set to recognise the special part new poets throughout Britain and Ireland play in the capital's literary life, through the London Festival Fringe New Poetry Award."
The winner will be announced in August.
Hold on to The Ropes
Diamond Twig's latest publication, The Ropes, was shortlisted for the CLPE Poetry Award. Read Ellen's account of the awards ceremony in her online diary.
The Ropes: Poems to hold on to is an anthology of new poetry for young people. Out of 40 poems, 34 are newly commissioned, never before seen on this earth! What's more, this anthology like no other has two front covers, both shown here.
In the months leading up to publication date, we featured poems from The Ropes in our Poem of the Month section: for a taste of the good things packed into this little book, have a look at our poems for January 2008, March 2008 and now April 2008.
Or read more about The Ropes: Poems to hold on to, including how to order a copy.
Use the diamonds to find your way around this site: and if you can't find what you are looking for, check the Site Map, which includes a full list of our authors, and our publications, which we hope you'll buy.
Diamond Twig regrets that we are unable to accept new submissions, until further notice.
