Welcome 2024 is upon us, and with it comes many new things. Spring lambs, poets sitting in meadows beside babbling brooks (sorry Ralph!), and a flurry of new writing. It’s also a time for seeing […]
An Introduction to the Eleventh Edition
WRITING POETRY FOR CHILDREN by Brian Moses
Brian Moses has been a professional children’s poet since 1988.. To date he has over 220 books published and over 1 million copies sold. His new book On Poetry Street will be published in May.
Poems by Linda Middleton
Linda lives in a leafy corner of England and is passionate about inspiring others with her poetry for children. Her work has been published widely online and in journals and anthologies.
Gavin Jones – The Constellation of the Little Fox
“If you know what you’re listening for, and you concentrate hard enough, you’ll hear them up here, away from it all. We’ll see them.”
I listen. A fox barks.
Poems by Joe Williams
Joe Williams is a writer and performing poet from Leeds. His latest book is ‘The Taking Part’, a short collection of poems on the theme of sport and games, published by Maytree Press.
Decisions, Decisions by Laura Cooney
You are on a quest to save the forest. Exhausted you sleep for the first time in three days, and awake to find that you are in a dark woodland glade …
The IRA Bombed Brighton in 1984 by Stephen Sharp
1
A tabby was sleeping by four ripening peaches as its feeder asked: do Jesuits make the best writers?
‘Your eyes are moist’.
Poems by Hilary Elder
Hilary (she/her) was born, raised and lives in the Far North of England – though she has been to other places. She writes fiction and poetry for children and adults, runs workshops and does collaborative projects.
Two Hundred Years is a Long Time by June Gemmell
I pressed myself into the soft shadows as the dark figure hovered a few feet away. Pencil thin, dressed in a frock-coat and top hat, he seemed to be looking for someone. He may have breathed my name just then, but it was faint, a mere murmur.
Cate West – The Thumb
His uncle was famous for shooting his thumb off while climbing a stile. He’d show you the result, given half a chance, thin hard hands cupped and shaking, the left side whittled, a seam of scarring.
Poems by Rob Walton
Rob Walton is a working class writer from Scunthorpe, who now lives in Whitley Bay. His poems, flash fictions and short stories for adults and children have appeared in various anthologies and magazines in the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.
Poems by Jane Thorp
Jane Thorp has had many poems published in magazines. She won the Yeovil Literary Prize for Poetry in 2023. She was shortlisted in The Plough Poetry Prize 2013, children’s category, and has been commended and shortlisted in other poetry prizes.
Angry by Bob Johnston
Lord Serriorth’s name originated on an island far to the west. It related to anger, and he embraced that without even knowing the fact. He was simply a furious person, from the moment he woke in the morning, until the last moment he fell into bed, huffing, puffing and enraged about something or other.
Poems by Carson Wolfe
Carson Wolfe (they/she) is a Mancunian poet and winner of New Writing North’s Debut Poetry Prize (2023). Their work has appeared or is forthcoming with Rattle, The Rumpus, The North, New Welsh Review, and Evergreen Review.
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele.
Horror, as the old quote goes, is primarily a fear of the unknown. I make no assumptions that I understand what it’s like to not be White, which was one of the things that drew me to this anthology, aside from it having filmmaker Jordan Peele’s name prominently attached.
THUD! – Review
Sometimes you want one of those fancy restaurants where they serve you a dollop of something with a smear of something else on the side. Something that pushes boundaries, explores things, takes bold and provocative risks
And sometimes you just want a burger.
2023 WILKO JOHNSON WRITING AWARD – THE WINNERS
The Louder Than Words festival in partnership with Northern Gravy, Louder than War, Omnibus Press and the University of Huddersfield are delighted to announce the winners of the 2023 Wilko Johnson Writing Award.
Grow Your Own Love Poem with Toria Garbutt
Discover the art of capturing your memories and transforming them into immortal verse with acclaimed poet Toria Garbutt.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being – Review
Rick Rubin has left an indelible mark on the history of music. He’s the man who revitalised Jonny Cash’s career. He cofounded Def Jam records and helped popularise hip hop. He been behind the boards on some of the biggest albums of the last 40 years.
An Introduction to the Tenth Edition
That’s “Editions old”, not “Years old”, by the way, but still, it’s a significant milestone and one we’re delighted to be celebrating. Ten has such a lovely ring to it, someone ought to put an album out just called Ten. It’s a pearl of a name, very catchy for some musical jams.
Steve Ely – Fly Dream of a Casino Soul
Steve Ely’s most recent publications are Lectio Violant, The European Eel and Lives of British Shrews. A book-length poem, Eely, is imminently forthcoming from Longbarrow Press. He teaches Creative Writing at the University of Huddersfield where he is also Director of the Ted Hughes Network
The Lure of the Ice by Christine Collinson
My Mistress heard that the Queen shoots a longbow and has set herself to the same. As we tread the frozen river, ice all about us like the blue-white wastes of the underworld, I pull my cloak tighter to my shoulders.
Poems by Di Slaney
Di Slaney lives in Nottinghamshire where she runs livestock sanctuary Manor Farm Charitable Trust and independent publisher Candlestick Press. She was the winner of The Plough Poetry Prize 2022 and Slipstream Open Poetry Competition 2023.
Poems by Debi Knight
Debi Knight is a Neuro-diverse poet and short story writer based in West Yorkshire who considers herself a lifelong student. She writes the life she sees and feels around her – exploring connections between humans, nature and the effects of modern life on all.
Your Heart, In This Chest by Katie McIvor
All the seas are one creature. Of molten metal, iron-coloured, she has tsunamis for claws and white wave-crests for ears. Your ship rolls on her uncountable shoulders.
Poems by Rosie Garland
Rosie Garland is a writer and singer with post-punk band The March Violets, Rosie Garland has a passion for language nurtured by public libraries. Her poetry collection ‘What Girls do the Dark’ (Nine Arches Press) was shortlisted for the Polari Prize.
Poems by Sarah Ziman
Sarah Ziman is a poet from Wales who likes cats, crisps, cake, reading and rhyme. She dislikes writing bios. She won the YorkMix Poems for Children Prize 2021, and has poems in The Caterpillar, The School Magazine, The Toy, PaperBound, Paper Lanterns, Tyger Tyger, Little Thoughts Press, The Dirigible Balloon, Cricket, and anthologies by Macmillan and Pomelo Books.
Near Pen-clawdd, 1854, by Hetty Mosforth
A girl’s scream stills two dozen sieving hands. The sound carries across the sand flats and salt water pools, catching in the cliffs that confine the bay. Women, previously bent double and scattered along the shore, cluster around the girl.
Poems by Sam Szanto
Sam Szanto lives in Durham. Her collaborative pamphlet, ‘Splashing Pink’ was recently published by Hedgehog Press and is a Poetry Book Society Winter 2023 Pamphlet Choice. Her pamphlet ‘This Was Your Mother’ was one of the winners of the 2023 Dreich Slims Contest and will be published in 2024.
Poems by Leigh Manley
Leigh Manley is a new poet from Wales. He likes watching rugby, drinking cups of tea, acting silly, and making up fun words and sentences! He is currently part of Literature Wales’ ‘Representing Wales’ writers’ development programme for 2023/24 and he’s had work published with The Dirigible Balloon. He is working on his first poetry collection for curious children and the young at heart.
Stone Baby by Han Whiteoak
While rinsing the pink gravel from the fish tank, I sneak a handful into my mouth. The rounded stones rattle around my teeth, massaging my tongue, before tickling their way down my throat.
Poems by Michael Conley
Michael Conley is a poet and prose writer from Manchester, UK. His latest collection is a pamphlet published by Nine Pens, called “These Are Not My Dreams And Anyway Nothing Here Is Purple”. He was the recipient of the 2022 Peggy Poole Prize.
Poems by Eibhlís Carcione
Eibhlís Carcione is a bilingual poet and children’s author from Cork, Ireland. Her three poetry collections in Irish, Tonn Chlíodhna (2015), Eala Oíche (2019), and Bean Róin (2023), are published by Coiscéim. She has won numerous awards for her poetry.
Beans on Bread
We partnered with Damien John Kelly House, managed by Vitality Homes. Damian John Kelly House is an abstinence-based recovery living centre, for adult males based in Liverpool. Their aim is to provide recovery from addiction via arts, sport and culture, with the belief that they will lead to purpose, belonging and connection.
2023 Wilko Johnson Writing Award
The Louder Than Words team, in partnership with Northern Gravy, Louder Than War, Omnibus Press and the University of Huddersfield are delighted to announce details of the 2023 Wilko Johnson Writing Award.
Book Review – Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
Once in a while, you probably do something weird just for the hell of it. Maybe it’s a compulsion to see what something feels, tastes or sounds like, or perhaps you just let the intrusive thoughts get their own way for once.
Northern Gravy Live at Home: From Draft to Deal – Mastering the Submission Process
Join Jamie McGarry (Valley Press) and the Northern Gravy team as we untangle the knots of how to submit your work to publishers.
An introduction to the ninth edition
Welcome Welcome to the ninth edition! Are you ready? We can’t hear you! Are you – you know what, this is an email isn’t it, so of course we can’t hear you. Sorry about that. […]
Truth in the Impossible: On writing ‘Cautious, A Boat Adrift’ by Tommy Sissons
Tommy Sissons is a poet, writer and educator based in London. He is the literary editor of GRASS Magazine, a publication specialising in the promotion of working-class creatives.
Poems by Yanita Georgieva
Yanita Georgieva is a Bulgarian poet and journalist living in London. She is a recipient of theOut-Spoken Prize for Poetry and a member of the Southbank New Poets Collective. You can find her work in The London Magazine, Poetry Wales, bath magg, and elsewhere.
Trying, in French. by Beth Hunt
Sylvie said, if you want to make a baby, you have to break some eggs. It never became entirely apparent what she meant by that, but, in the manner of people desperate for a solution to an unsolvable problem, we returned to her time and again nonetheless.
Que Será Será by Kathy Hoyle
As I push open the high wooden gate, blue paint peels off into me palm. I let the flecks fall to the ground and go into the back yard. Mrs Walker’s old tabby prowls along the wall overlooking the alley. She flops down and gives me a filthy look before closing her yellow eyes for a nap.
Poems by Peter Pegnall
Peter has published eight collections of poetry and one book of translations. He has a new collection arriving in September. Peter has written obituaries for The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, and blogged for both. He has written reviews for The Independent and The Catholic Herald and many more for literary magazines.
Into the light of the dark black night by Lizzie Eldridge
At the beginning, it was just little things, like where did he put his watch or what was the name of that guy he went to school with. Nothing out of the ordinary. Now, his father’s voice often trailed off mid-speech.
Poems by Carole Bromley
Carole Bromley lives in York. Winner of 2022 Caterpillar Prize, she also has poems in Tyger, Tyger, Paper Lanterns, The Toy, Little Thoughts Press, Paperbound, The Dirigible Balloon, in anthologies from MacMillan, Emma Press and Nosy Crow as well as in her Smith/Doorstop collection for children, Blast Off!
Poems by Susie Wilson
Susie is an autistic Scottish poet, living in Sheffield. She has been published widely in anthologies (including for Winchester, Gloucester and Shepton Mallet’s Competitions), commended by Fresher and Poets & Players, longlisted in The Rialto Nature Competition, appearing also recently in Envoi, Monofiction and Black Bough.
For No Reason I think of Manhattan by Lydia Gill
I think of Manhattan, New York, as I put my daughter to sleep. I think of ascending the face of a building, like paper caught in an exchange of air. My thoughts are blockish, grey. Patterned into the tight, potent space between buildings.
Yellow Cake and How to Stay Alive by Attie Lime
On Fridays, some of us get tiny cubes of yellow cake. A behaviour thing, a reward if you like. Today I don’t get one. Tam offers to split hers, but the scared six-year-old in me still thinks I might live to regret that sort of kindness. I eat my dry crackers in silence.
