“Stories from the eyes of an owl” by Sarah-Jane Crowson

The Story of “Stories From The Eyes of an Owl” . . .

An Introduction by Renée Sigel, Publisher of Rare Swan Press

I, like so many others, have fallen in love with Sarah-Jane’s inventive and gorgeously evocative ‘erasure poems’. It took just my first encounter with her work to know I had to publish her work. More than just a ‘perfect fit’ for Rare Swan Press, I sensed the opportunity of a beautiful collaboration or two. Our first conversations were a delight and I think we both knew publishing her work with Rare Swan Press was pretty much a ‘given’.

Part of the delight of an editor and a publisher is the ‘agony of choice’: If I had my impractical way, I’d publish everything she makes; not only is her work a wonderland of imaginative creatures and richly decorative theatrical landscapes, she is quick, focused and has a very distinct vision of what’s at hand. It is a collaborative dream.

And in a recent conversation about the projects we are planning to publish during 2022, we realised that we’d probably missed the window to offer Rare Swan readers and her own followers, something special during this festive season. On a whim Sarah-Jane offered a card series and I mentioned it would be wonderful it these were presented as a fold-out stand alone and the rest is lightning history. Within a fortnight we worked away at the concept and convinced several very willing printers so as to present you with a very special, non-profit, limited edition of STORIES FROM THE EYES OF AN OWL, which comes with a specially designed Rare Swan – Crowson Bookmark, to remind you of our forthcoming projects in 2022!

Read all about this very special ‘pop-up’ collaborative ‘experiment and how we pulled it off, in this special inaugural interview of Rare Swan Press’s new series, Behind The Scenes With … Sarah-Jane Crowson, hosted by our very own Managing Editor, Marcelle Newbold

Sarah-Jane is a visual poet. Her work is inspired by fairytales, psychogeography, and surrealism She uses collage to re-imagine and subvert traditional narratives, exploring the space between real and imagined. 

She is also an educator at Hereford College of Arts, and a postgraduate researcher at Birmingham City University, investigating ideas of the ‘critical radical rural’.

Her work can be seen in various journals, including Waxwing Literary Journal, Petrichor, Sugar House Review (sugar suites) and Iron Horse Literary Review. She was shortlisted for the Haiku Foundation ‘Touchstone’ award in 2020. Her Portfolio Series, “The Zodiachal Lights” is forthcoming from Rare Swan Press in 2022.