{"id":17243,"date":"2025-11-02T08:46:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T08:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?p=17243"},"modified":"2025-11-02T08:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T08:45:14","slug":"launching-darling-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?p=17243","title":{"rendered":"Launching Darling Blue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/orOAn9CdQLU?si=7OaWIbqXBfiDX6cK\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>My big news is that <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?page_id=17191\" target=\"_blank\">Darling Blue<\/a><\/em> is now officially out there &#8212; with big thanks to Dawn and Ronnie at Indigo Dreams for all their work on the typesetting and design, and getting it out to readers now! And to Luke Kennard and Pre-Raphaelite Society Poet-in-Residence Sarah Doyle for their wonderful endorsements!<\/p>\n<p>JOINT WINNER of the Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2024, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?page_id=17191\" target=\"_blank\">Darling Blue<\/a><\/em> interweaves ekphrastic poems with a book-length fictional poetry narrative of love, lust and letting go. The poems inspired by Pre-Raphaelite artworks include QR codes, which readers can scan to view the pieces after or alongside their reading. Blue here is more than a colour or inspiration; it is desire, secrecy and sorrow \u2013 the essence of \u2018feeling \/ really alive\u2019, yet \u2018distance\u2019s illusion\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA fascinating creative hybrid weaving ekphrasis and cohesive narrative, <em>Darling Blue<\/em> deftly balances its fictional speaker\u2019s personal response to various Pre-Raphaelite artworks, with rich descriptive hints that resonate way beyond the mere visual. Exploring the complex tensions between the public sphere and private activities, this collection is a gallery tour of the narrator\u2019s unfulfilling relationship with an unattainable partner, through to the ultimate redemption of self-worth and new love. James\u2019s finely crafted and intelligently controlled poems brim with vivid imagery and lush sensory detail, reminding the reader \u2018how brightly sunlight shines through \/\/ when freed from a cracked mirror\u2019.\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Sarah Doyle, Pre-Raphaelite Society Poet-in-Residence<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cJames uses the lyric and ekphrasis to create a profound and moving collection on the cost of love; what endures and how we survive its wake. As vivid and emotive as its pre-Raphaelite sources, <em>Darling Blue<\/em> is also startlingly direct, eloquent and consoling on the things we find hardest to put into words. An unmissable collection.\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Luke Kennard<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The official publication date was 29 October and you can buy it from <a href=\"https:\/\/indigodreamspublishing.com\/sarah-james\" target=\"_blank\">Indigo Dreams here<\/a>, or as part of a book bundle from me <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?page_id=17191\" target=\"_blank\">here. This page<\/a> also has more info and links to sample poems too. You can also email if you&#8217;d like a signed copy, or come and enjoy some live readings and a general poetry party feel at one of the launch events lined up. (See the end of this post for the 22 November launch in Droitwich and my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?page_id=184\" target=\"_blank\">general events page<\/a> for other launches, readings and highlights already lined up and as new ones come in.)<\/p>\n<p>A feature about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?page_id=17191\" target=\"_blank\">Darling Blue<\/a><\/em> (Indigo Dreams, 2025) with two sample poems, <strong>Bluebell Blue<\/strong> and <strong>Your Fingers<\/strong>, can be enjoyed in a <em>Creative Writing Leicester<\/em> feature <a href=\"https:\/\/creativewritingatleicester.blogspot.com\/2025\/10\/sarah-james-darling-blue.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And the collection has also had its first reviews. Big thanks to Mab Jones for hers in <em>Buzz<\/em> and to Emma Lee for her detailed and considered review. Snippets from both can be found below, along with links to the full reviews.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[\u2026] Many of the poems are ekphrastic in nature, i.e. written in response to artworks. Interwoven with these is a personal poetry narrative telling a tale of love, desire, and parting. This is a compelling and original pairing; and James is deft in her threading of them, so that the twin stories shimmer, mirror, and loop together elegantly. [\u2026]<br \/>\n&#8220;Altogether, <em>Darling Blue<\/em> is tender and compassionate; daring and yet also finely rendered. [\u2026] this book, despite its longing and loss, enlivens and lifts up the reader, too. Remarkable.&#8221;<br \/>\n<strong>Mab Jones<\/strong>, <em>Buzz<\/em>, full review <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzmag.co.uk\/new-poetry-october-2025-sarah-james-parthian\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Through \u201cDarling Blue\u201d, Sarah James has created two complementary threads. One is the doomed (fictional) affair of a woman with a married man that watches her move from the delusion of love to acceptance that she too was complicit in romanticising something tawdry. The wife is outside the frame: it\u2019s not known if she knows of the affair or if the husband is a serial cheat. But there is a strong sense of self-discovery on the speaker\u2019s part. The affair has enabled her to try out a role and learn what love is not. The ekphrastic poems add to the commentary: the speaker\u2019s reaction to Crane\u2019s \u201cNeptune\u2019s Horses\u201d moves from awe at their power to identification where she takes back control after she realises that she was fooling herself. It\u2019s a collection that rewards re-reading, a slow walk through a gallery, taking time to sit with each piece and choose to focus on the whole or a fragment, ask why a particular shade of blue was chosen or marvel at how the brushstrokes direct the light and the viewer\u2019s eye, guiding it to see what the artist wants to reveal.&#8221;<br \/>\n<strong>Emma Lee<\/strong>, full review <a href=\"https:\/\/emmalee1.wordpress.com\/2025\/10\/22\/darling-blue-sarah-james-indigo-dreams-publishing-book-review\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?attachment_id=17385\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17385\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Darling-Blue-at-Wirral-smaller-1024x675.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"396\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-17385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Darling-Blue-at-Wirral-smaller-1024x675.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Darling-Blue-at-Wirral-smaller-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Darling-Blue-at-Wirral-smaller-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Darling-Blue-at-Wirral-smaller-768x506.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Darling-Blue-at-Wirral-smaller.jpg 1518w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m chuffed to have had have two poetryfilms included in this year\u2019s Wirral Poetry Festival Video Anthology. \u2018Darling Blue\u2019 and \u2018The Day-Dreams\u2019 are my poetryfilm versions of two poems from my collection <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?page_id=17191\" target=\"_blank\">Darling Blue<\/a><\/em> (Indigo Dreams, 2025). They\u2019re both inspired by Pre-Raphaelite art, including Millais\u2019 \u2018Little Speedwell\u2019s Darling Blue\u2019 from the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight. It\u2019s wonderful to have them in the festival anthology, which was screened at the Lady Lever Art Gallery as part of this year&#8217;s festival and is now online on the festival website <a href=\"https:\/\/wirralpoetryfestival.org.uk\/poetry-anthology-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?attachment_id=17386\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17386\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Day-Dreams-at-Wirral-smaller-1024x992.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"581\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-17386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Day-Dreams-at-Wirral-smaller-1024x992.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Day-Dreams-at-Wirral-smaller-300x291.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Day-Dreams-at-Wirral-smaller-150x145.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Day-Dreams-at-Wirral-smaller-768x744.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Day-Dreams-at-Wirral-smaller.jpg 1032w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>OTHER NEWS<\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;m also very pleased to be doing two poetry and art features for <em>The High Window<\/em> next year. The first will probably focus on combining photography and poetry in animated gifs, perhaps as a stepping stone towards poetryfilm, This will be followed by a feature on poetryfilm specifically.<\/p>\n<p>The past fortnight also brought news on Instagram that my poem <strong>The Longest Moment<\/strong> has been longlisted in the Black Cat Poetry Press &#8216;Turning Point&#8217; competition and will be published in an anthology out next year.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m very pleased to have my poem <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blacknorereview.wordpress.com\/2025\/09\/29\/sarah-james-leavesley-a-scent-of-pine\/\" target=\"_blank\">A Scent of Pine<\/a><\/strong> published on <em>Black Nore Review<\/em> in September, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelakepoetry.co.uk\/poetry\/sarah-james\/\" target=\"_blank\">A Last Supper<\/a><\/strong> in <em>The Lake<\/em> in October and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/sarah-james-leavesley-3\/\" target=\"_blank\">The art of cutting and stitching<\/a><\/strong> on <em>Ink Sweat &#038; Tears<\/em> in October. My poem <strong>On Durham Heritage Coast<\/strong> has also just been published in the competition anthology <em>What We Inherit from Water<\/em> (Yaffle&#8217;s Nest, 2025).<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m delighted to have had three art-inspired prose poems &#8212; <strong>The Language of Clouds<\/strong>, <strong>Notes for my successor<\/strong> and<strong> Gallery Impressions<\/strong> &#8212; published in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/B0FR31G2LP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title\" target=\"_blank\">Poetry Out Loud UK<\/em><\/a>, issue 7, 2025.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?attachment_id=17398\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17398\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/P1104396-smaller-structurally-unsafe-176x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"176\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-17398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/P1104396-smaller-structurally-unsafe-176x300.jpg 176w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/P1104396-smaller-structurally-unsafe-88x150.jpg 88w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/P1104396-smaller-structurally-unsafe.jpg 585w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 176px) 100vw, 176px\" \/><\/a>I&#8217;ve always loved unusual poetry objects and projects. Earlier this summer, I was asked for permission to use one of my poems <strong>structurally unsafe<\/strong> for a poetry reed diffuser produced by Urban Ganges.  The photo to the left gives an idea of what this look like and more information and ordering can be found on their website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanganges.com\/product-page\/structurally-unsafe-by-s-a-leavesley-rose-noir-poetry-reed-diffuser\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?attachment_id=17404\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17404\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Please-hear-us-screen-shot-smaller.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"660\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Please-hear-us-screen-shot-smaller.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Please-hear-us-screen-shot-smaller-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Please-hear-us-screen-shot-smaller-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Please-hear-us-screen-shot-smaller-768x507.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nI was also delighted to take part in the third iteration of the massive collaborative arts game <em>TELEPHONE<\/em>, this time involving around 1,395 artists from 933 cities in 65 countries. You can enjoy my poetryfilm <em>Please hear us!<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/telephonegame.art\/game\/artists\/sarah-leavesley-james\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> in video form within the game (with its neighbouring links) or <a href=\"https:\/\/telephonegame.art\/artists\/sarah-leavesley-james\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> for my video plus the text. (Click on the second dot above the poetryfilm screen to see the text-only version.) This was my part of passing on the message as I understood it from the inspirational music passed to me.<\/p>\n<p>My gratitude and thanks to the editors and creators for these opportunities and for all the hard work that goes into running a small press publication\/such projects for writers and readers; it is very much appreciated.<\/p>\n<h2>DARLING BLUE LAUNCH<\/h2>\n<h2>Saturday, 22 November 2025 &#8212; Darling Blue launch with Worcestershire Poetry Society Stanza Guest Poets <\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/?attachment_id=17414\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17414\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22-Nov-launch-smaller.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-17414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22-Nov-launch-smaller.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22-Nov-launch-smaller-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22-Nov-launch-smaller-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22-Nov-launch-smaller-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22-Nov-launch-smaller-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/sarah_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22-Nov-launch-smaller-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nDate: Saturday, 22 November 2025<br \/>\nTimes: 3-7pm whole event; reading: 3.30-5.30pm (Not a 2-hour reading, just the slot within which the readings will take place, drop in at any point the rest of the time!)<br \/>\nVenue: The Gallery (upstairs) at Droitwich Library (Victoria Square, Droitwich Spa, WR9 8DQ, UK<br \/>\nFREE but ticketed on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/darling-blue-launch-with-worcestershire-poetry-society-stanza-guest-poets-tickets-1832358707219?aff=oddtdtcreator\" target=\"_blank\">Eventbrite<\/a><br \/>\nPlease see full event details on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/darling-blue-launch-with-worcestershire-poetry-society-stanza-guest-poets-tickets-1832358707219?aff=oddtdtcreator\" target=\"_blank\">Eventbrite<\/a> for further details, including accessibility and intended age range<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My big news is that Darling Blue is now officially out there &#8212; with big thanks to Dawn and Ronnie at Indigo Dreams for all their work on the typesetting and design, and getting it out to readers now! And to Luke Kennard and Pre-Raphaelite Society Poet-in-Residence Sarah Doyle for their wonderful endorsements! JOINT WINNER [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17243"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17478,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17243\/revisions\/17478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sarah-james.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}