WHEN This Place I Know dropped on to the desk, three things stood out.

First, the cover. An engaging piece of artwork from outstanding Cumbrian printmaker Angie Mitchell.

Next, I noticed the book's editors included prizewinning poets Kerry Darbishire and Kim Moore plus publisher Liz Nuttall, a very distinguished and talented trio.

Thirdly, it listed the excellent wordsmith Simon Armitage as one of the contributors.

The icing on the cake was that the new anthology of Cumbrian poetry also includes finely crafted pieces by Jacob Polley and the visionary and renowned 'engineer of the imagination', John Fox.

In This Place I Know, 92 gifted poets are represented in an exciting 156-page anthology which celebrates the Cumbrian landscape and culture in all its diversity. Other nationally known poets featured are Helen Mort, Christopher Pilling, Meg Peacocke, rising stars of the new generation such as Kim Moore, Tom Pickard and Carola Luther and poets who regularly appear at poetry events around the county. The anthology comprises poems reflecting not just the beauty and magic of the Cumbrian landscape but also the harsh realities of recent flooding, foot and mouth disease, and the struggle to maintain the old farming ways, so richly cherished.

Published by Handstand Press, its a prizewinner in itself. Another well-known literary name, Grevel Lindop, has penned the book's foreword. Poets featured in the anthology will read at the Kendal Mountain Festival.