Anne Charnock, "Alston Moor"

Anne Charnock studied Environment Science and Fine Art, and her latest novel, Alston Moor, is a work of eco-fiction. She won the Arthur C. Clark Award 2018 for Dreams Before the Start of Time, and the British Science Fiction Association Award 2017 for her novella, The Enclave. Her debut novel, A Calculated Life, was a finalist for the 2013 Philip K. Dick Award and the 2013 Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award. Anne’s writing career began in science journalism, and her articles appeared in The Guardian, New Scientist, International Herald Tribune among others. Lancaster University recently awarded her an honorary DLitt for her novels "on key topics including near-future environmental collapse."

About Alston Moor, by Anne Charnock
In an epic novel set on the North Pennine Moors, Elizabeth has abandoned avalanche science to restore desolate peatlands. She treks in the footsteps of Isabel who, five centuries earlier, herds her cattle to remote summering grounds. 

Both are reeling from the overwhelming crises of their day. In 1548, Isabel and her father, together with the priest in this poorest of parishes, grapple with the chaos of the Protestant Reformation. Today, a grieving Elizabeth fights to save an invaluable ecosystem, one that is threatened by wilful fire-raising and arson.

The entwined stories are told through multiple voices creating a rich portrait of England’s most remote landscape. At its heart, this deeply moving novel interrogates how society confronts crisis whether through science, faith or superstition.

You can read more about Alston Moor on the publisher's website here. Below, you can read an excerpt from the novel. 

From Alston Moor

Christopher - May 2022

He scans across the moor, unsure exactly where they found the ruin. It stands a few stones high, he recalls, and he’ll know it when he sees it. From the ruin, they saw a single tree, so he heads towards the only one that’s visible from the path. And he smiles as he remembers that Abi could not believe a tree could survive out here through winter, seeing how blustery it felt even in May. If she were that tree, she said, she would pick up her roots and let the wind blow her somewhere warmer. 

He stumbles across the ruin, which squats in a slight hollow on the hillside, a few minutes scramble from the track. Clumps of reeds, which he does not remember from before, partly obscure what remains of the walls. Only now does he question what the hell he is doing here. Why come back? He hates himself for staying so angry. 

Isabel – May1548

Isabel knows the moment that changed her. Not the moment when she sat with a basket holding eight perfect eggs laid by their eight ordinary hens, when it dawned on her: these hens do the work and we take the profit. No, the moment that changed her occurred three years past at the Michaelmas fair in Hexham – the one time she travelled so far with her father. She stood before a stall selling cheeses. She stood transfixed by the sight of a single exotic fruit, an orange, on display – not for sale, mind. In that moment she gleaned that a world existed beyond these northern moors and valleys. A world where such a thing, this extraordinary orange, grows on trees or bushes or springs from the soil like cabbages, she knew not how. But she grasped that a place exists in the world where oranges are as ordinary as eggs.

Elizabeth – August 2022

When she switched her research from the Alps to working in peat bogs in the Pennines, she instantly drew looks of disappointment, bemusement, even from her sister. After the switch, Elizabeth received fewer invites to dinner. She supposed that her traveller’s tales became less riveting. No more derring-do. However, in some ways, Elizabeth feels that peat bogs suit her better, not so much in terms of the day-to-day research or the inherent dangers, but in terms of her as a person. She is introspective by nature – she accepts that – and she looks back on her days in the Alps as though she were accidentally caught up in a role bigger than her personality. In the movies, they would describe her as ‘cast against type’ as an avalanche scientist. Now she comes to think about it, her son is similarly cast against type. He is outgoing, extrovert, more like his father, and yet he works in insurance.

Mati Shemoelof, "Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin"

Mati Shemoelef, photo by Ali Ghandtschi

Mati Shemoelof is a Berlin-based writer, poet, curator and creative writing educator, originally from Haifa, Israel. He has published sixteen books of poetry, fiction, essays and drama in Israel and Germany, and his work moves between Hebrew, German, Arabic and English.

He is the co-founder of ANU – Jews and Arabs Writing in Berlin and the initiator of the Poetic Hafla, a literary and cultural series that brought together Hebrew, Arabic and German-speaking writers and artists in Berlin. He has also worked as a curator and editor and teaches Creative Writing in English, German and Hebrew.

His books published in Germany include the poetry collection Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin (AphorismA Verlag, 2019), Das kleine Boot in meiner Hand nenn ich Narbe (Parasitenpresse, 2023), and the novel Der Preis (PalmArtPress, 2025). His latest book, Fünfzehn Narben: Jüdisch-arabische Texte zu Politik und Poesie, a collection of essays and political and poetic texts, will be published by AphorismA Verlag in 2026. His first book written originally in German, Jiddische Sounds, Deutsche Wörter, will be published by Elif Verlag in 2027.

 

About Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin, by Mati Shemoelof, translated from Hebrew into German by Jan Kühne, Arabic translation by Nael Eltoukhy, Afterword by Jan Kühne

Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin brings together 40 poems from Mati Shemoelof’s Hebrew poetry books and presents them for the first time in German translation. The bilingual edition places the original Hebrew poems alongside Jan Kühne’s German translations, creating a dialogue between the language in which the poems were written and the language of Shemoelof’s new life in Berlin.

The three cities in the title mark three connected but very different worlds: Bagdad, the city from which Shemoelof’s Iraqi-Jewish family came; Haifa, where he was born and grew up; and Berlin, where he has lived since 2013 as a Hebrew-language writer.

The book brings these places together through questions of migration, memory, Mizrahi and Arab-Jewish identity, Jewish history, belonging and language. The poems move between family memories and contemporary political realities, between Israel and Germany, and between the experience of home and the experience of being a stranger.

Rather than presenting identity as something fixed, Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin shows it as something formed through movement. The three cities are not simply geographical locations. They become different layers of memory and belonging, carried by the poet from one language and country into another.

You can read more about Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin on the author's website here. Below, you can read two sample poems from the collection. 

From Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin 

Luca Serra, "This Is Home"

Originally from Northern Italy, Luca Serra has been living in Scotland for thirteen years. From an early age, he has been interested in creative activities such as writing and painting. He has dedicated himself to writing for about fifteen years and has so far written four novels and various short stories in Italian and English. In January 2020 he received the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award for Fiction. Since early 2021 he became a literary editor and mentor at Product Magazine, where he mentors emerging writers as part of the "Write Here, Write Now" programme. He currently teaches literacy and Creative Writing at HMP Glenochil.

Luca is particularly interested in contemporary social issues such as immigration, identity, and the divisive politics of today. Through his writing, he aims to explore the challenges and experiences that come with moving to new, unfamiliar places and how the characters establish their identity and purpose in those places. His characters are often misfits and minorities who pull out the remarkable and, sometimes, absurd in ordinary, day-to-day lives.

This Is Home, his debut English novel, was published by Leamington Books in January 2026.

About This Is Home, by Luca Serra 
This Is Home is a vivid, multivoiced story cycle that follows characters forging new lives far from where they began. Serra’s novel moves between London and Glasgow, tracing the emotional landscapes of migration, friendship, and the fragile search for belonging.

You can read more about This Is Home on the publisher's website here. Below, you can read an excerpt from the novel. 

From This Is Home
A Friday stroll on Sauchiehall street is never just a stroll. Brunilda had got used to it. You might exchange a smile with perfect strangers, often locals, carrying amicable manners in their blood, well proud of the definition "Scotland’s friendliest city," well proud of being one of those "People Make Glasgow" people. Then, a block away, you might witness the first puke of the weekend, vile fruit of a 2pm football drinking session. 1.6 miles of buskers, beggars, reckless youths, hen parties, leaving parties, stag dos, today’s neds and punks, tomorrow’s artists. It’s home of immigrants young and old, hipsters, rebels, people with no tribe, everyone belonging to a huge, infinite family: the Glaswegians. It’s a street of no structure, a street of pure, erratic life. 

Brunilda often wondered what her role was on those 1.6 miles of walking stories. She watched and absorbed, taking in words, phrases and scenes to share with mum and grandma, one day, back in Brazil, home: the only place where she felt that unique, visceral sense of belonging. Brazil was everything she had been so far, her foundation and youth. Glasgow was the present, the moment, and although it was growing in her, it retained the shapes, lights and colours of an unfamiliar place. She didn’t see herself chatting away with a busker or consoling a kid who’s fallen off the bike: she felt like she’d be stepping on somebody else’s toes. As consequences of actions were unpredictable, she simply attended that daily march of pure, erratic life, rather than participated. She was a passive spectator.

Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, "Skinship" (スキンシップ)

 

Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana is author of two poetry collections: Sing Me Down from the Dark and Skinship, both published by Salt Publications. This year, she won the Frome Festival Crysse Morrison Poetry Prize, as well as Verve's February Poem of the Month competition, was placed third, by Mimi Khalvati, in the Kent and Sussex competition, and shortlisted for the Wolves Lit Festival competition. She is shortlisted for the 2026 Forwards Prize for Best Single Written Poem, for her poem, "Madam Gout," originally published by Magma.

Alexandra lived in Japan for ten years and has Master's degrees in Japanese Language and Culture and in Writing Poetry. She is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and teaches for The Poetry School and The Poetry Business. Her most recent work is published or forthcoming in Pennine Platform, The North, Vervacious anthology (Verve Poetry Press), The Alchemy Spoon, and online in And Other Poems.

About Skinship, by Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana
Returning to Japan after a 15-year absence, our narrator is told she hasn’t changed. Yet everything has changed. Skinship examines our public and interior selves, the seen and the unseen, probing the complexities of relationships with lovers, kin, other women, and across cultures. These ideas are often explored through Japanese forms, including award-winning zuihitsu and haibun, and 2026 Forward Prize shortlisted "Madam Gout."

You can read more about Skinship on the publisher's website here. Below, you can read two sample poems from the collection. 

From Skinship

ふさわしくないもの

Unsuitable Things

           (after Sei Shōnagon) 

An obasan saying futota na to a foreigner: 

haven’t you put weight on? An old woman questioning 

the Japanese character, based on a competitive 

game of bridge. Pyramid tea bags that rip. On threads 

that twist around your index finger. A mother who twists 

words, shutting down conversation with her daughter: 

did you ring for a reason? A father telling his son he’s a quitter, 

because he leaves taekwondo. A son remonstrating 

with his mum, when she unplugs his gaming PC: 

are you a fucking moron? Chewing pellets of Rock Jaw gum, 

for better facial aesthetic. A father who won’t let him win 

arm wrestling. And a mother who sees a rival 

in her daughter, who, as I bend to kiss her cheek, 

says, I thought you were going to eat me.  

Michael M. Brownstein, "Paperbacks & Baguettes"

Michael M. Brownstein is a writer of fiction and poetry. His work has appeared in The Interstitial, Catharsis Chronicles, and The Lark, among other online journals. He is an editor for Scrittura and New Choices. Paperbacks & Baguettes: Stories Between Us is his debut novella-in-flash. Michael lives with his family in Massachusetts and can usually be found making coffee and easing into the day.

About Paperbacks & Baguettes: Stories Between Us, by Michael M. Brownstein
Paperbacks & Baguettes is a novella-in-flash set in an independent bookstore café. Across forty interconnected stories, booksellers, baristas, managers, regulars, and passersby move through the rhythms of early mornings, busy afternoons, and late closings.

The stories focus on the small exchanges that gradually give the place its character: a mug left warm, a playlist shared across the counter, a scarf caught on a shelf, or a familiar customer acknowledged from across the room. Running quietly through the book is a developing relationship between a woman who frequents the store and the man behind the counter.

Together, the stories explore how attention, routine, and small acts of care can turn an ordinary place into somewhere people feel they belong.

Below, you can read one of the flashes from the book. 

From Paperbacks & Baguettes

The Folded Page

And the bell stammered once.

The aisle was narrow, just wide enough for two people to pass if neither lingered. Shelves leaned in, jackets pressed close when a hand pulled one forward. A cart bumped in the back and went quiet.

He bent the cover back, not much. A corner page still showed a fold.

From the other end, a woman slowed at the shelf. She pulled the same book from lower down, her copy stiff, his already worn. Their eyes moved between the two.

“You should take that one,” he said.

She turned it once in her hand. “Yours has history.”

He looked at the fold again. “Someone marked a place.”

She pressed her thumb there without opening it. “Maybe that’s where I’d stop too.”

A boy passed behind them, dragging his sleeve across the spines, the sound faint as paper brushing paper. Near the front, the register opened and shut, coins shifting in the drawer. The bell stammered once, then stopped.

The woman slid her copy under her arm, shifting her bag to make space. He kept his a moment longer, then pushed it back until the row leaned straight again.

When he looked up, she was already at the counter. His finger stayed on the folded page before he let go.

Light from the high window stretched over the jackets, then slipped away. The aisle was empty, except for the book pressed back into place. 

"Across the Universe: What Can We Learn from the Beatles' Extraordinary Creativity?"

By Steve Taylor

The Beatles were astonishingly prolific. Although their recording career lasted less than seven years, they recorded and released 213 songs –– a rate of more than 30 songs per year. They released 13 albums and 22 singles (many of which were not included on albums). Nowadays it’s normal for bands or musical artists to release an album every two or three years.  

Another remarkable aspect of the Beatles was the speed of their creative evolution. At the end of 1964, they were still in their initial pop phase, recording mostly up-tempo love songs, such as "Eight Days A Week" and "No Reply," with simple beat-group arrangements. 18 months later they were recording Revolver, which many people (including me) regard as their greatest achievement. The album is full of radical innovation, in terms of music, recording technology and lyrical content. For example, the song "Tomorrow Never Knows" contains a sitar drone, a single repeating bass note, a hypnotic syncopated drumbeat, multiple tape loops, backwards guitar solos and lyrics adapted from The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Just a few months after Revolver came the psychedelia of "Strawberry Fields Forever," Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour. During this phase, the Beatles created sophisticated experimental pop that stretched the limits of contemporary technology even further. By mid-1968, they had already progressed beyond psychedelia to songs of spiritual sustenance such as "Hey Jude" and "Let it Be," and the mature creative riches of The White Album and Abbey Road.

What were the secrets of the Beatles’ prolific and progressive creativity? It’s true that they were innately gifted to a rare degree. But there are certainly some creative lessons we can learn from the way that they applied and realised their gifts. 

Firstly, the Beatles show us the importance of apprenticeship, of a long period of learning and training. Innate gifts express themselves fully after years of practice and discipline, like precious minerals that undergo a long process of extraction. It was only during their Hamburg residencies – where they played for several hours a night for weeks on end – that the Beatles cohered as a group, learning and honing their craft, and uncovered their authentic style. As Paul McCartney admitted, "We were pretty bad at the beginning … But with all the time we had in Hamburg, we just got good."

Another lesson from the Beatles’ story is the importance of remaining curious and open, and choosing growth over stability. Creative development is an attitude and a choice. It’s up to us whether we settle for comfort and success, repeating tried and tested creative formulae, or whether we keep exploring. Climbing up to the higher rungs of the ladder (as Paul McCartney described the Beatles’ approach) involves risks and expends more energy, but is always worthwhile, as an alternative to creative inertia.  

Finally, the Beatles teach us that we don’t have to be massively proficient or theoretically knowledgeable. On the contrary, too much proficiency and technical knowledge can be an obstacle, cluttering our minds with concepts. The Beatles had very little formal musical knowledge and were far from virtuosos. They demonstrate that naivety aids creative development, freeing us from the restriction of rules and conventions, so that we can endlessly explore our creative field without boundaries or borders.

Ultimately, though, perhaps the greatest lesson from the Beatles is that the most inspirational creativity comes through rather than from us. John Lennon and Paul McCartney often described how their best songs were "received" rather than created. Paul woke up one morning with the melody of "Yesterday" running through his head; the lyrics to "Across the Universe" came to John while he was the verge of sleep. "Nowhere Man" also came to John when he was dozing; while Paul’s "Let it Be" was the result of a dream in which he encountered his deceased mother. 

Ideas and insights are always floating around us, and will eventually enter our mental space, like seeds that are carried by the wind and land in soil. We just need to be patient, while keeping our minds alert and open. 

About the author

Steve Taylor, photo by Remy Steiner

Steve Taylor PhD is senior lecturer and researcher in Psychology at Leeds Beckett University, and also a poet and musician. He is the author of Across the Universe: the Magic and Mystery of the Beatles’ Creativity (Scribe, September 2026). Find out more here. 

Summer News 2026

Our last News post was back at the end of March. You can read it here. Since then, lots has been happening, so here's an update from Creative Writing students and staff in the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester.

To start with, this blog, Creative Writing at Leicester, has now had well over 1 million readers. At the same time, our sister site, Everybody's Reviewing, has now passed the 2 million mark. Thank you to all our readers, contributors, editors, reviewers, authors. We never guessed these two blogs would be read so widely when we first set them up!  

In Spring, the Centre for New Writing, in conjunction with Everybody's Reviewing, ran a Book Review Competition for current undergraduate and postgraduate students. You can see the results of the competition, including links to the winning reviews, here. 

Congratulations to Jess Bacon, MA Creative Writing graduate, whose book I'm Just a Girl has been published by Piatkus. You can read more about it on the publisher's website here. 

Congratulations to Joe Bedford, PhD Creative Writing graduate, whose short story collection Mating Habits will be published by Parthian Books in 2027.

Aamani Bommareddy, BA Journalism with Creative Writing student, has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing here. The review was awarded an Honorable Mention in our 2026 Book Review Competition.

Charlie Black, BA English with Creative Writing student, has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing here. The review won Second Prize in our 2026 Book Review Competition.

Congratulations to Constantine, MA Creative Writing graduate, who has published his new children's novel, The Lady of Atlantis. You can read more about it here. He has also edited and published a new anthology of writing by students at Ellistown Primary School, The Sum of Our Parts. You can read more about the book here.  

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Kristy Diaz who has contributed an interview to the new book Rebel Grrrls: The Real Story of Women and Punk by Molly Tie. Read more here.  

Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke, PhD Creative Writing student, has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing here. The review won First Prize in our 2026 Book Review Competition. 

Congratulations to Cathy Galvin, PhD Creative Writing student, whose debut poetry collection Ethnology has been shortlisted for the Laurel Prize 2026. Ethnology has also been longlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. You can read more on the publisher's website here. The book has been featured on this blog here, and reviewed on Everybody's Reviewing here. Over the last few months, Cathy has been giving readings across the UK and Ireland.

Congratulations to Beth Gaylard, who recently completed her PhD in Creative Writing. 

Congratulations to Tim Hannigan, PhD graduate, whose book The Pathless Land: Finding a Way Across Ireland, will be published by Bloomsbury this September. Read more here. 

Congratulations to Katherine Howey, who has a Certificate in Higher Education in Creative Writing, on the publication of her historical novel In Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. You can read more about it here. 

"Dead Man's Hollow," a short story by PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle, has just been published in a new anthology called Perfect Circle from Uncertain Stories. You can read more about it here. 

Felicity James, Associate Professor at Leicester, along with her colleague Dr Rachel Winter have started their AHRC project Empathy, Difficulty, Difference: Creative Curiosity in Practice. Run jointly between English and the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare, the project explores the role of creativity in fostering empathy. So far, this has included a workshop about ways of developing creative engagement with healthcare professionals, held at Glenfield in July. You can read the first responses here. Felicity's new essay "The Wild Essay, Or, the Essayist responds to the University Policy on Generative Artificial Intelligence in Learning, Teaching and Assessment"  has been published by the journal New Writing.

Congratulations to Sabyn Javeri, PhD Creative Writing graduate, whose story "Priority" has been longlisted for the 4th Write Short Story Prize, run by 4th Estate publishers and The Guardian. Read more here.  

Rim Asma Khalifa, BA English with Creative Writing student, has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing here. The review was awarded an Honorable Mention in our 2026 Book Review Competition. 

Congratulations to Mathew Lopez-Bland, PhD Creative Writing graduate, whose story "Purple and Green" is winner of the 2026 Honeyfeed Story Contest. You can read it here. Mathew recently completed his PhD in Creative Writing.

In May 2026, Anna O'Sullivan, BA English and MA Modern and Contemporary Literature with Creative Writing graduate, worked as guest editor of Everybody's Reviewing. She has written reviews here and here. 

Olivia Peachey, BA English with Creative Writing student, has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing here. The review was awarded an Honorable Mention in our 2026 Book Review Competition.

Dan Powell, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has an essay, "The End Is Never Where You Think," in the new book, Creative Writing and the Critical Commentary, ed. Karen Stevens and Jonathan Taylor, published by Bloomsbury. 

Writing Elegies for Dead Men I Didn't Meet, poetry collection by MA and PhD Creative Writing graduate Cathi Rae, has been reviewed on Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Sally Shaw, MA Creative Writing graduate, has written reviews for Everybody's Reviewing here, here, and here. 

Anupriya Sisodia, MA Creative Writing student, undertook work experience as guest editor of Everybody's Reviewing in June 2026. She interviewed author Annabelle Slator for the blog here. She has written reviews for the site here, here, here and here. 

Congratulations to Hannah Stevens, PhD Creative Writing graduate, whose new collection of short stories, On the Bodies of Strangers, has just been published by Wind & Bones. You can read more about it here. 

Laura Sygrove, MA Creative Writing graduate, worked as guest editor of Everybody's Reviewing in July 2026. She interviewed author Suyin Du Bois for the blog here. She has written a review for the site here. 

Jonathan Taylor, Associate Professor, has co-edited with Karen Stevens Creative Writing and the Critical Commentary: Reflection, Influence Process. The book has now been published by Bloomsbury Academic, and features an anthology of sample reflective commentaries, alongside guidance about writing reflectively. You can read more about the book here. Jonathan's memoir, A Physical Education: On Bullying, Discipline & Other Lessons was shortlisted for the Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the International Rubery Book Awards. You can read more here. His story "He never writes to me no more" was published in The Morning Star here. He has written reviews for The Morning Star here and Everybody's Reviewing here.

Congratulations to Paul Taylor-McCartney, PhD Creative Writing graduate, whose debut non-fiction title Cornwall Uncharted: Mapping Cornwall's Queer History of Concealment, Culture and Creativity has been published by The History Press. You can read more about it here. His story "Of What Remained" is featured in the anthology Salt & Stone, published by Hermitage Press. You can read more here. He has written reviews for Everybody's Reviewing here, here and here. Paul's novel Sisters of the Pentacle was recently reviewed on Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Aidan Trulove, MA Creative Writing graduate, has written an article on her MA Dissertation, "How to End Your Story," for Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Congratulations to Anna Walsh, MA Creative Writing graduate and soon-to-be PhD student, who successfully pitched her short film Bike Park to The Slate, a filmmaking and talent development programme based at Leicester’s Phoenix Cinema. Bike Park, a workplace comedy, is currently in development and will be shown at the Phoenix in March 2027. She has also written an article about her MA, "Internal Windows," here. 

Associate Professor Harry Whitehead's novel White Road has been shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2026. The winner will be announced on 17th September. You can find out more, along with a variety of related podcasts, interviews and so on, on the prize website here. Harry's paper on the history of Soviet Russian Creative Writing programmes was published in the journal New Writing. You can read it here.

Congratulations to Lisa Williams, MA Creative Writing graduate, on the publication of her debut novella, The Longest Day, by Road Song Books. Lisa first drafted some of the book as part of her MA Dissertation. You can read more about it here.

Congratulations to Lee Wright who has recently completed his PhD in Creative Writing. He has also written a review for Everybody's Reviewing here.