Byways is a gazetteer of the private places and the gaps in the map - the very best places of all. Armchair travel has never been so seductive.

Mike Parker, author of Map Addict

Arachne Press follow up their impactful A470-themed collection with another expertly-curated anthology of poems and short prose dedicated to journeys. The writers in Byways find lost places, see the familiar in new ways, and recover personal or cultural memories through their imaginative wanderings. We’re taken us to edgelands, ridgeways, boundaries, forgotten paths; we travel with the writers into the past and from the material to the spirit world. There’s something intensely moving about these poetic journeys which focus on the spirit of place and the deep, barely-realised connections we have with our landscapes and people.

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Byways, an anthology of stories and poems from across the UK and elsewhere, exploring the urban shortcuts, well-trodden meanders, ancient pathways, hillside and field paths. The public and the secret ways that take us away from the crowds and out of our vehicles. Mainly in English but including a handful of poems in Welsh (with translation), join us off the beaten track.

Arachne Press has a track record (pun intended) of publishing what academics call psychogeography, but we call well-routed. We also have history with climate concern. We combine the two here, offering drama and solace from experiencing the world at the slow pace of a walk, whether the short cut to the chippy, or an all day hike in the hills.

Edited by Cherry Potts.

20/03/2024 88 pages

Print: 978-1-913665-87-6 £9.99

eBook: 978-1-913665-88-3 £4.00

With contributions from:

Adele Evershed
Amelia Foster
Angela Arnold
Annemarie Cooper
Annie Kissack
Attalea Rose
Cath Humphris
Des Mannay
Diana Powell
Eabhan Ní Shuileàbhain
Em Gray
Gloria Heffernan
Gregory McGreevy
Gwyn Parry
Heather Lane
Helen Campbell
Jane McLaughlin
Jeff Phelps
Jonah Corren
Josie Levin
Judith Mikesch-McKenzie
Katie Harrison
Katie Margaret Hall
Kelly Davis
Laura Besley
Lisa Farrell
Lizzie Lovejoy
Mab Jones
Maddie Price
Marcus Smith
Michael Shann
Michelle Penn
Mitzi Dorton
Nicholas McGaughey
Phil Wood
Raymond Luczak
Rhys Owain Williams
Ros Woolner
Sara Louise Wheeler
Seth Crook
Simon Chandler
Sue Burge
Sue Moules
Thea Smiley