meet

The Team

Jonny Syer

Children's Editor

Jonny Syer is a working-class writer, comedian and web designer, originally from Grimsby and now in Chesterfield. He has performed Improvised Comedy across the country, with notable shows at the Edinburgh Festival and Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. He loves writing and reading funny stories of magic, adventure and worlds with endless imagination. He is the recipient of an Arts Council DYCP fund for 2023 and is currently being mentored by Lisette Auton. Jonny will start querying literary agents in 2024.

@JonnySyer

Nick Jones

Fiction Editor

Nick is a writer and part time farmer who grew up in Cheshire before moving to Canada for 3 years. He has filmed the army, been to the Arctic, worked on a burger stand at the world’s largest rodeo and written a board game, a video game and several novels. When he isn’t writing or reading he loves a good horror film, cooking lasagne and spending time with his wife and extremely small dog, Jojo. He currently lives in Doncaster.

@NickWritesBooks

Ralph Dartford

Poetry Editor

Ralph Dartford’s first pamphlet, Cigarettes, Beer and Love was published by Ossett Observer Presents in 2013. His next collection, Recovery Songs, was published by Valley Press in 2019, and Hidden Music followed in October 2021. In 2024, his 3rd collection for Valley Press, House Music will be published to complete a trilogy of themed work. Ralph is currently studying for a Creative Writing PhD at the University of Huddersfield. For gainful employment, Ralph works for the National Literacy Trust as a Project Manager within the Criminal Justice department.

@Dartford

Who we are

There’s a big beat building in the North. Can you feel it? From Northern Soul to Rock and Roll, the North’s always been at the heart of things. It’s a humble place, but not to be underestimated. Everywhere you turn there’s something cooking. From the butty shop comes the cutting edge. From the land of the Dark Satanic Mills come an army wielding quills. We’re writers, we’re artists, we’re thinkers and doers. We make it reyt and keep it great. We’ve a keen eye for a turn of phrase, and there’s nowt like us for telling it like it is.

And Gravy? Can you think of anything more Northern?

We’re Northern Gravy. A new, exciting, dynamic organisation dedicated to bringing to light the excellence of new writing. We want to shine a light on the undiscovered, the unknown and the overlooked, and give courage to those who want to try their hand at writing. We carry that northern work ethic into everything we do, and we believe in good pay for hard work, so we pay our writers. Every quarter, we aim to put out an online periodical showcasing the very best and brightest of new talents, and we want to put you in it.

What we do

Put written words in front of people and make them pay attention. Showcase undervalued and underrepresented talent. We talk and shout and laugh and cry, we do it all publicly, and we show off the wonder of great writing. We read, we respond, we consider and we curate. We’re evangelists. We’re promoters and programmers. We’re writers from the North and we’re proud of it, and we’re proud of the writing and creativity that blooms up and down this land. We want to share that, show it off, and in doing so enrich the lives or readers and writers alike.

What we want

One word: Writing. If you write, we want to read it. We don’t care about genre or form. We want your poems. We want your lyrics. We want your stories and tales and yarns and novels. We want experimental fiction. We want cosy kitchen sink dramas. We want murder mysteries, local histories and Science Fiction Fantasies. Writing for identity. Writing for posterity. We want your horror. We want your laughter. We want writing for children, for young adults, for actual adults and everything in between.

We want you.