An introduction to the seventh edition

Welcome
While New Years is just around the corner (as if the lurking spectre of All I Want For Christmas Is You wasn’t enough to contend with), for us here at NG, New Year is right now.
More specifically, our seventh edition is now out, and this edition marks the first for our second year. As you may recall, after much wrangling, some choice language, several shaky moments and a few false starts we managed to secure Arts Council funding for another year of doing what we do, and so it seems only fitting that we celebrate this first foray into our second year of showcasing the best new writing.
So, with New Years comes new things, and this is a big one. Instead of three pieces each, we’re now picking four each. Oh yes. Even MORE brand new, brilliant fiction, poetry, and KidLit for you to savour and enjoy. Go ahead, give it a read. Treat yourself. Also, the blog for this edition has been provided by the wonderful Toria Garbutt, and it’s a real cracker.
Also, thanks to everyone who bought a ticket and came along to our very first live event, Northern Gravy Live at Home. It was a wonderful evening full of exquisite poetry, lively performances, much needed positivity, and the odd mince pie or two. Plus, Ralph wore a tux, and he looked proper handsome to boot. Lovely stuff. We’ll be sure to do more, and if there’s anything you’d love to see or hear, let us know.
That’s quite enough waffle from us for now, you’ll need to rest those eyes ready for all the brand new writing that’s coming your way. Take care of yourself, and hopefully we’ll see you soon at our next live event!
A word from our Poetry Editor, Ralph Dartford
The poems selected for our 7 th edition focus on the islands of the heart, whether they are standing in the interior or gazing on from a forensic exterior. Here are intimate meditations and metaphors written on glass, the slowness of making gravy, and the roads to arriving and leaving our roots. These pages reveal fractured landscapes and still life in distorted light – portraits of the self written large alongside a measured and controlled rage of what we take and discard as humans, of what, how and who we
choose to forgive. Here is beauty, love and regret. They are poems of magnification, compassion and dread.
A word from our Fiction Editor, Nick Jones
These stories, when viewed together, all share a common thread: longing. Whether it be the longing for a love’s return, or the longing to be free of trauma, each of these stories speak of different kinds of want. By turns tender, uplifting, frightening, heartbreaking, and in some cases triumphant, they speak to how desires can shape our lives.
A word from our Kid Lit Editor, Jonny Syer
These stories and poems aim to show the reachable variety that is KidLit. The voices are stark and contrast. They feature loneliness and hope, adventure and stillness, wit and wry.  Poetry and prose side by side, seeking to shed light on the wonderful mysterious of childhood.
Guest Article
Our seventh article is written by spoken word artist, poet and educator Toria Garbutt! – Another Time in Space
We hope you enjoy reading our seventh edition as much as we have enjoyed curating it. Northern Gravy continues to break down barriers by paying every writer we feature.
As ever, we would like to thank our friends and advisors: Arts Council EnglandSheffield Hallam UniversityNew Writing NorthWriting on the WallSpread the WordHarper NorthWriting East Midlands and Bradford Literature Festival.

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