Animal Magic book launch

Liz Brownlee ♦ May 24, 2012 ♦ 14 Comments

WOW! Last night was the best book launch ever. Obviously I am a tad biased as it was my book launch, but even so it was fabulous! 80-ish people and 50 books bought. Poets, writers, family and friends and the publisher travelled from all over to come for just one hour, I am so grateful to them all, and very touched.

Sutton Coldfield, Oxford and Winchester were just some of the places people drove from and back to, and the publisher flew down from Newcastle upon Tyne to say a few words. Very nice words, thank you, lovely, kind, excellent publisher and editor Peter Mortimer of Iron Press.

Thank you too to the wonderful Rose Sanderson, the fabulous artist who painted the cover and drew the illustrations inside the book. Here am I with Rose at the launch:

Greeting people as they arrived:

Topping & Company, booksellers of Bath, the wonderful venue, did us proud, were very laid back, and extremely helpful (Sam was up a ladder hanging crane decorations even before we mentioned hanging crane decorations, a great job, and he took them all down after too, all the preparations were swiftly and beautifully done). This is Sam at Toppings welcoming everyone, and introducing Peter Mortimer the editor/publisher and me:

And this is Peter Mortimer, introducing me:

And this is me!

My husband showing a picture of a Madagascan robber moth on the head of a magpie robin to the everyone before I read the poem:

Audience members:

I think I may be reading a moving poem (above!).

And – the end of the launch – someone asked me to read one more poem, their favourite, my orangutan poem, which I enjoyed.

I really enjoyed the question and answer section after the reading – one audience member, the poet David C Johnson, asked whether there was an animal I wish I could write about but haven’t – and there is, the gorilla. Every gorilla poem I write is not good enough to represent that wonderful animal. David sent me a thank you email this morning, and in it a poem he has written for me about not being able to write a gorilla poem! It is fantastic, made me laugh, thank you David!

And thank you everyone for making the evening so special. I thanked most people during my talk before reading but (because I had lost my words on the computer and had to redo them minutes before leaving the house) I forgot to thank Peter Mortimer and Rose Sanderson on the night – such important people! and I just want to reiterate from above how fabulous Peter is as a publisher, and how talented Rose is as an illustrator, and how lucky and proud I feel to have them both involved in producing my book.

Thanks is due to Jem my son for taking the lovely photos, and Ruby his partner for filming everything.

I’d also like to thank Emma and Bernie for producing animal shaped ginger biscuits, insect cakes and cheese biscuit animals, all of which added to the atmosphere! And a huge thank you to Heather and Jane who collected numerous baskets of food, extra books just in case and origami crane decorations from our house as we had no room in our car, transported them all the way to Bath and helped display them, and then packed it all away after and removed it all like magic. Also thanks Jane for one pair of excellently high, black, posh shoes which crippled me but made me elegant!

This was an evening to remember for all time.

Animal Magic, Poems on a Disappearing World, poems and facts about endangered animals, suitable for both children over 9 and adults, is available from here: Animal Magic. And also Amazon.