As 2023 begins, with climate emergency, strange storms, a war in Europe, bad economies, and many strikes across the UK - and a pandemic that drags on - it might be seen as prematurely optimistic to say - but we at BSPG have high hopes for the year ahead. With eyes wide open to all the challenges our team individually and collectively face - and knowing full well the travails of the world - we are still cautiously hopeful, because we have utterly brilliant and amazing very talented poets and writers to publish this year - and we are very much looking forward to the London Book Fair in April, when we will have a stand. Also, we have turned 11 years old (Eyewear the parent company) and Black Spring is now 38! We have extraordinarily compelling, intelligent and resonant works out soon, and we will be doing our best to bring them out in attractive, affordable editions, get them reviewed, distributed into shops, and entered into prizes. We are not the swiftest press, but we are dedicated to bringing out all our books, and think slow and steady can win the marathon sometimes. Hope you too can find a glint of hope in these dark times.