Monday 23 February 2009

The Old Stile Press

The Old Stile Press have been lurking in the bloglist on the right for some time. Their blog is rich in anecdotes about books and breath-taking photos of the Wye Valley.


Last week I dropped by to see the press for myself. The printing office is not so much Beatrice Warde's 'crossroads of civilisation' as a rural idyll in the vein of Samuel Palmer, complete with moss-encrusted barns. However the latest work from the press looks far beyond the Wye Valley to the seas around Orkney. The Girl from the Sea, a little known play by George Mackay Brown, relates the disadvantages of taking a beautiful selkie home as your bride. The evocative images of seals and crofters are by Michael Onken. I love the way the play captures the sense in which humans depend on the sea, and how some are prepared to give themselves up to its mystery.



1 comment:

Bo said...

Oh that's sooo beautiful! xx