Review of 2025 Part 1

It's that time of the year again, where we can look back on an entire year and reflect on what happened. In this short series running up to the new year, Wheelsong Books and Invisible Poets, working together have achieved a significant amount. 

Early in the year, Wheelsong published two important new books. The first, one that had been a long time in the making, featured the work of Essex poet Graeme Stokes, whose jocular and entertaining verse has been regaling Invisible Poets for so long. It was about time to enable people to own a collection of his best poetry, so Off the Top of My Head was released. It is a firm favourite with a lot of people. 

In the same month Wheelsong published Creative Deviance by Steve Wheeler. Another book that had been a long time in the making, Creative Deviance has the strap line: How to Become an Experimental Poet. It is a textbook rather than a poetry book, but features more than 50 exercises poets can practice to develop their skills in writing creatively. The result is that those who have purchased the book have found their repertoire of writing styles and range of techniques has expanded and given them greater liberty to express themselves. Look for the hashtag #invisibleEXP to discover many of the poems that have been written under the influence of Creative Deviance.

Soon February was upon us, and the second birthday of Invisible Poets arrive. To commemorate this, Wheelsong published not one, but two new Invisible Poets anthologies of all the best poems that had featured on the Live Poets Society series of broadcasts throughout the previous year. The mix is eclectic and the sequence of quality poems is stunning. The image on Anthology 2 was taken in New York City in 2015, and the image for the cover of Anthology 3 was captured in South Africa in 2009.

All of the proceeds of these two books is donated to Save the Children, our chosen charity. By the end of 2025, Wheelsong Books has donated a total of £14,000 ($18,700) to support children in crisis. 

All of these books are still available for purchase, and full details can be found on the Wheelsong Books website.  

Steve Wheeler