Village of dunes. Valley of slumber-dust.

Sandsnarl is a settlement steeped in sand – though where it came from and how long ago is a matter of tall tales and steely whispers. The sand itself makes accurate record-keeping impossible. It is drug, ore, plague and delicacy. The inhabitants of this region (or is it a fallen kingdom?) talk and think through its haze. Some alter their shape, as if shaved by it. Others seethe, resisting its rattle and buzz.

These poems eavesdrop, extract, sift. Together, they make up a brief impression of time and place, a Buñuelian musical without the music.

Jon Stone is a Derbyshire-born writer, editor and researcher. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2012 and the Poetry London Prize in 2014 and 2016. School of Forgery (Salt, 2012) was chosen as a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. He designs and edits collaborative mixed media anthologies with Sidekick Books and has a PhD in poem-videogame interplay. Emma Dai'an Wright is a British-Chinese-Vietnamese publisher and illustrator. She worked in ebook production at Orion Publishing Group before leaving in 2012 to set up The Emma Press with the support of the Prince's Trust. She has since published over 500 writers across more than 130 books, including poetry anthologies for adults and children, short stories, and translations. She lives in Birmingham.