Jacqueline is a primary school teacher and an emerging writer from the Isle of Man. She has had poems published in The Caterpillar, Tyger Tyger and The Dirigible Balloon.
Poems by Jacqueline Shirtliff
Retrospect By Glynn Aiden Bailey
He came back at 3.15. An innocuous return, a knock at the door.
He stood with his head against the door frame, hair matted and skin grey as stone. His clothes were streaked with mud and soaked through. I pulled the door wider. He came in.
Poems by Victoria Firth
Victoria Firth is a writer, theatre maker and performer based in Yorkshire. Her work is concerned with embodiment and connection, exploring things lots of us feel but don’t really talk about.
Lost and Found by Amanda Thomas
Tom pulled out a screwdriver, weathered from a lifetime of use, and waved it in my face. With one foot on the dustbin and one flat against the wall he hauled himself onto the windowsill and slipped the screwdriver into a small notch in the frame.
LIVE AT HOME with Louise Fazackerley & JP Seabright – 8th December, 2022.
Northern Gravy ‘Live at Home’ presents the freshest new writing from the comfort of your armchair, bedroom or kitchen table.
YEAR 2 LAUNCH!
It’s Coming Home! Don’t worry, we haven’t taken leave of our senses and abandoned new writing in favour of turning Northern Gravy into a football periodical. But the title is very apt, because we are, […]
Podcast #6
Northern Gravy Podcast 6 is now available! There’s no special guest for this one, what you get is half an hour of scintillating badinage between Jonny, Ralph, and Nick as they chat through some more […]
Podcast #5
Welcome to a brand new episode! On this voyage, Ralph and Jonny are joined in conversation by the wonderful Lisette Auton, a disabled writer, activist, and creative practitioner (and also NG blogger!) Read more about […]
An introduction to the sixth edition
If three is the magic number, then what does that make six? Double magic? We’re sure there’s probably an idea in there for a novel involving a rogue mathematician learning magic, but that’s another story […]
Greenbooth Boggart by Karen F. Pierce
It wasn’t fair, he hadn’t done anything! Joe stomped up the stairs to his bedroom. Sent to his room “without dinner or devices” as his mum had said. Which was a laugh as he didn’t have any ‘devices’ and a stale cheese barm barely counted as dinner.
Poems by Matt Nicholson
Matt Nicholson is a poet and performer from East Yorkshire who lives within the cultural halo of the City of Hull.
Geraniums by Joanne Rush
‘Goodbye, mother. Don’t come out.’ My daughter pauses in the doorway, stooping down to press her powdered cheek against my cheek. Then she takes her own daughter’s hand, and walks off. Neither one of them looks back.
Poems by Kate Williams
Kate Williams is a children’s poet, with numerous contributions to anthologies by UK publishers such as Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Bloomsbury and Hodder.
Poems by Jane Burn
Jane Burn is an award-winning, working class, pansexual, autistic person, parent, poet, artist, and essayist.
Le Beau au Bois Dormant by Isaac Holden
Many years later, as he faced the wall of thorns, a young prince was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him aside and told him he was to be married.
Poems by JP Seabright
JP Seabright (she/they) is a queer writer living in London. They have three pamphlets published: Fragments from Before the Fall: An Anthology of Post-Anthropocene Poetry; the erotic memoir NO HOLDS BARRED, and GenderFux, a collaborative poetry pamphlet.
The Five Polaroids of Winter by Nikita Zankar
It isn’t me, it’s you, he says, so I leave behind the love of my life at sixteen and travel to England to live with my uncle and his family. My drunk father gets easily coerced by his I-know-better brother to send me across the world.
How to write funny books for children by Louie Stowell
I was struggling to think of some jokes for a particular scene in my latest book so I did what I usually do when I’m stuck. I asked twitter. The answers varied from “Lego tiger […]
Podcast #4
The Northern Gravy Podcast returns with a conversation between our Poetry Editor and raconteur extraordinaire Ralph Dartford, and novelist Stephen May, who kindly provided an article which accompanied the fifth edition of Northern Gravy. Look […]
SOME KIND OF HAPPY BY AMANDA HUGGINS
Livvy and Hugh travelled by ferry from Nice to Calvi and rented a tiny bergerie in the northern mountains of La Balagne. It was high season, and the woman in the tourist office told them they were lucky to find anywhere.
Poems by HLR
HLR (she/her) is a prize-winning poet, working-class writer, and professional editor from North London. She is a commended winner of The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition 2021, and she also won The Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Competition 2021.
Future Perfect by Katie Kent
I discovered I could travel back in time at about the same time that I realised I was into girls. Finding myself back at the start of the gym class I’d just struggled through proved the former; my all-consuming crush on my best friend.
THE WRONG BONES BY HILARY ELDER
Lying. Weeping. Falling. Sinking. Drying. Crumpling. Desiccating. Settling. That’s how it happened, the slow slip from stoved-in head to clean white bones. And now, here I am. Waiting.
Poems by Elinor Clark
Elinor Clark hails from Leeds in the UK. Her work has recently appeared in journals including AMBIT, The Blue Nib, The London Magazine and Lighthouse Journal. She is co-editor of Briefly Zine.
Poems by Rhiannon Oliver
Rhiannon Oliver is an actress and poet from Cardiff. As an actress, she has worked with companies such as BBC, Sky 1, The National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, National Theatre of Wales and Manchester Royal Exchange, as well as off Broadway and on UK and International tours.
Kiss Me Quick by Paul Kimm
We had two special weekends coming up. Weekend one was Blackpool. Six of us. The lads only. Weekend two was Stig coming out of prison. Weekend one was excitement. Weekend two was dread.
Poems by Amanda Huggins
Amanda Huggins is the author of two novellas: Crossing the Lines and the 2021 Saboteur Award-winner, All Our Squandered Beauty, as well as four collections of short stories and poetry.
The Lantern Man by SF Layzell
Bram hissed as they checked the last of the traps. Empty.
Dory knew better than to correct his little brother’s anger. They would need some of that fire to warm them in the coming winter and Dory had none to spare. What Dory felt most was tired.
Real Mild Ones by Stephen May
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn […]
An introduction to the fifth edition
Welcome. Happy birthday to us! You didn’t get us a card? Not to worry, we won’t take it personally. In fact, quite the opposite. We may have turned 1, but we have something for you instead.
An introduction to the fourth edition
Welcome. We are proud to present our fourth edition of Northern Gravy. Three pieces of KitLit, three pieces of Fiction and three selections from Poetry.
The Vulture by Meg Gripton-Cooper
She can feel that Isabelle hasn’t shaved her armpits recently. This surprises her. The fuzz of it burns Kate’s hands as she drags Isabelle into the bathroom. It’s easier than expected. The hardest part is getting her over the side of the bathtub.
Death Girl by Emma Finlayson-Palmer
‘Oi, death girl!’ a familiar voice shouted.
My heart was in my throat. What were they doing here? A couple of lads from my year at school rounded the corner beside the church and up the pathway near where I was kneeling.
The 6-Step Skincare Solution For A Better Night’s Sleep by Natalya Edwards
Step 1: Wash
Run a bath. Clean the bath first, because you’ve seen the criticism around baths. ‘Bathtubs are full of germs!’ and ‘you’re sitting in your own squalor!’. Yeah, you acknowledge, baths are kind of gross. Cover the tub in bleach.
Rabbit Rabbit By Natasha Bonfield
Pavel’s hands were sticky with drink. His fist slammed the bar. Another pint.
“That’s how you kill a rabbit,” someone said.
The pronouncement, made in a loud baritone, broke through the haze of Pavel’s third ale.
Poems by Mike Farren
Mike Farren is a Yorkshire-based writer and editor whose poems have appeared widely in journals and anthologies.
Poems by Lisa J Coates
Lisa Coates is a multi-disciplinary artist based in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Lisa is mentored by poet, Helen Mort.
Poems by Genevieve Carver
Genevieve Carver is a writer and performer interested in connectivity and discord between humans and the natural world.
The Lighthouse Seer by Lyndsey Croal
The boy arrived at Elenya’s lighthouse a day before her first Rites, sailing through the haar as if drifting over clouds. She watched his approach eagerly from the lantern room.
Poems by Attie Lime
Attie Lime likes walking in fields, playing UNO and making up words. She is currently working on an MG novel about brothers, magic, and a cat called Colin.
Finding your 555 by Yvonne Battle-Felton
Today marks just past day number fifty-five of getting up at the crack of something (not quite dawn) in the morning to write from 5:55-6:55 AM every day. Five in the morning. Who would have thought it? Not me.
PODCAST #3
Ralph Dartford takes the wheel for an exciting interview with poet Oisín Breen, who kindly performs some of his exquisite poetry for us too. You can find Oisín’s collection Flowers, All Sorts, In Blossom, Figs, […]
Cold Patch by Sherry Morris
It always starts with something small. I’m in the kitchen, putting away the shopping, when a raspberry tumbles from its punnet. Rolls across the granite kitchen counter. Drops onto the parquet floor. A shiver travels up my spine.
Poems by Ian Parks
Ian Parks is the author of eight collections of poems, one of which was a Poetry Book Society Choice. He is the editor of Versions of the North: Contemporary Yorkshire Poetry and the Selected Poems of Harold Massingham.
The Volunteer by Francesca Lembregts
Ten years. Oscar and I have been as thick as thieves for ten years.
We were both young, fairly decent looking fellows when we first met, with sharp eyes and white teeth that were still all there. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not completely decrepit now, but time hasn’t been generous to us.
Ownback by Em Kittow
‘Look at this.’
Maggie moved to see what Kai was pointing at, he was enjoying his new cool status with his big sister’s old iPhone. He was looking at the Magpies and Mochas account, the social media monster that Maggie’s mother had created.
Poems by Oisín Breen
Oisín Breen is a poet, part-time academic in narratological complexity, and financial journalist, Dublin born Oisín Breen’s widely reviewed debut collection, ‘Flowers, all sorts in blossom, figs, berries, and fruits, forgotten’ was released March 2020.
Grandma’s house by Kinneson Lalor
The road from school to Grandma’s house was treeless and the wind blew my skirt in every fierce direction. But when I got to the forest, it swallowed me.
