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In the fall of 2016, journalist and documentary filmmaker Robin Benger felt the overwhelming resolve to pack in a forty year career based in Toronto, during which he covered events in some of the world’s most dangerous hotspots, and move into a caravan with his wife in North Yorkshire. This book is his journal about a genteel English summer stopping life to walk, dream and look around.
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In Something Changed, Matthew Williams navigates us through his journey with wit and wisdom, taking in divorce, dating and self-discovery while facing the dark spectre of depression.
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Poems from Teesside Primary Schools Two hundred and fifty years ago Middlesbrough-born James Cook sailed around the world on HMS Endeavour on a voyage of scientific discovery. In this anniversary year, the T-Junction poetry festival is celebrating Teesside's long international history by focusing on travel and discovery. As part of the festival, children in local primary schools have been writing their own poems about exploration and adventure, inspired by poets Bob Beagrie, Andy Willoughby, Julie Hogg, Chris Stewart, Harry Man, Natalie Scott and Andy Croft.
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In the summer of 2017, the Crossing the Tees Book Festival invited local writers to enter its first short story competition. With the theme, ‘Crossing the Tees’, the competition struck a beautiful chord and elicited almost a hundred entries that varied from whimsical ponderings to poignant memories, from fantastical tales to gritty commentaries on life in Teesside.
This anthology celebrates the winner, runners-up, and highly commended stories, as judged by Becci Sharrock, John Nicholson and Mark Freeman, as well as the rest of the short-listed entries.
“Brilliantly written creative reimaginings of a region rich in writing talent.” Tracey Iceton, Writer in Residence
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Tough industries, warm people and beautiful Yorkshire! All this went into the mix that made me the person I am today. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. In this lovely little book, Marilyn Jordan explores life in all its wonderful facets, with entertaining, witty and strikingly observant verse, each poem illustrated beautifully with its own charisma-filled painting. Paperback, 42 pages, RRP £9.99 ISBN 978-1-912218-15-8 Published by Sixth Element Publishing, December 2017
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Ever wish you could just go somewhere else? In this, his third book, David Smith invites you to visit places near and far, journey back into childhood and reflect on the passage of time. This wildly eclectic collection of poetry sings with melancholy, humour, wistful reflection and evocative insight, provoking a wide range of emotions from page to page. Written in a frugal style that makes for a rare accessibility to inner meaning, this is a thought-provoking and immensely readable collection of poems. Includes the poem, Cameraria Ohridella, shortlisted for the Strokestown International Prize at the Strokestown International Poetry Festival, Roscommon, Ireland, 2016. Paperback, 64 pages, RRP £6.99 ISBN 978-1-908299-90-1 Published by Sixth Element Publishing, July 2016
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A woman dedicated her life to a lie and now seeks understanding by travelling to the physical, mental and spiritual landscape that defines who she was, is, and will be. Go to the places you fear most and re-write the colours of your life. ‘Trail of Fears is a very powerful book. A captivating journey and story of belief, loss, exploration, adventure and liberation. The struggle of freeing oneself from a toxic worldview in the name of truth, integrity, and authenticity is truly inspiring.’ Jeremy Runnells, cesletter.org ‘This is one woman’s lyrical cry of anguish as she seeks to reclaim her battered spirit after years of subjugation in the Mormon cult. Told with haunting precision, this is a poetically visceral work that will stay with you.’ Lynn Picknett, co-author of The Templar Revelation ‘Trail of Fears is life writing at its best - brave, honest, exploratory. It is also a journey into the lost heart of America, into the underside of the fake and the sham, with a final escape into self-knowledge and freedom. Part memoir, part travelogue, Chamberlain writes with wry observation and clarity of purpose on every page.’ Dr Chris Thurgar-Dawson, Teesside University Paperback, 160 pages, RRP £9.99 ISBN 978-1-908299-97-0 Published by Sixth Element Publishing, November 2016
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My Only Boro is not just about Middlesbrough Football Club, it’s not just a history book about the town and it’s not just a social commentary on a town once described as the worst place to live in Britain – it’s all this and more. “A must read for Boro fans, memories of the good old days that we long to return to, and all you non-footy fans will love it as well. It’s witty and fun to read, a real blast from the past.” Bernie Slaven, Boro Legend Paperback, 176 pages, RRP £8.99 ISBN 978-1-908299-22-2 Published by Sixth Element Publishing, December 2011
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A wonderful collection of whimsical stories in rhyme, from the funny to the sad, from everyday life and everyday people, to poignant, moving comment on tragedy, love and family. Albert Cross presents an entertaining, thoughtful and often quirky commentary on life and living that will delight in places and make you pause for thought in others. Paperback, 144 pages, RRP £9.99 ISBN 978-1-912218-07-3 Published by Sixth Element Publishing, August 2017
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Divers is the true story of Jon May, a dive medic, whose journey started with the Piper Alpha disaster, and took him from the North Sea to the Kuwait War, to Bombay, the South China Sea and Vietnam. It is a story shot through with the drama, gallows humour and suspense of one of the world’s most dangerous professions, carried out by an individual breed of men in some of Earth’s toughest corners. Jon was called upon to help rescue a skipper trapped below deck on a sinking ship, treat a latterday victim of mustard gas and encountered boat people who could have been mistaken for pirates. He learned never to expect any gratitude from a Bombay beggar and, in this book, tells of encounters with angry sea snakes as well as a phantom oilrig. It may sound like the stuff of fiction, but for knife-edged excitement, nothing beats the truth. Paperback, 208 pages, RRP £9.99 ISBN 978-1-908299-78-9 Published by Sixth Element Publishing, September 2015
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Salvage, the long-awaited follow up to Jon May's first book, Divers, tells of his time with the truly extraordinary South China Sea Ocean Salvage And Towing Company,from dealing with the devastating consequences of a typhoon in the South China Sea, searching for missing explosives and going to the rescue of a shipwrecked crew, to hunting for lost pirate treasure, treating wounds from a shark attack and almost being lost at sea himself. Salvage has the dry, dark humour of professionals facing tough, life-changing decisions in the face of disaster and has a delicate balance of harsh reality and poignant reflection, giving further insight into the truly remarkable and adventurous lives of these men at sea. Paperback, 156 pages, RRP £9.99 ISBN 978-1-908299-72-7 Published by Sixth Element Publishing, July 2015
