Selected by Janie Hextall and Barbara McNaught

Born of a shared love of washing lines and poetry, the subject of this wide-ranging anthology is laundry and washing, reflecting many human emotions to do with family, relationships and memory.

Whether it is the joy of washing blowing on the line, the smell of clean linen or the rhythmic dance of two people folding sheets together, this collection is a celebration.

Presented with line drawn black and white illustrations throughout, with poems by: Michael Longley, Seamus Heaney, Louise Glück, Gillian Clarke,Yehuda Amichai, Vicki Feaver, Marge Piercy, Craig Raine, Pablo Neruda, Simon Armitage, Moniza Alvi and many others.

There is joy in clean laundry.

All is forgiven in water, sun and air.

from 'Laundry' by Ruth Moose