Victoria Pickup studied a BA in English and MA in Creative Writing at Loughborough University. A freelance writer for seven years, she continued to write creatively and in 2008 won the Café Writer’s Award with a poem inspired by travels in Bosnia: ‘The Chicken that Saved my Children.’ She was shortlisted for the Poetic Republic (MAG) poetry award in 2009 & 2010. Victoria now lives in Hampshire with her husband, three children and, of course, a pet chicken.
This moment too
Will be forgotten.
Through the foggy bedroom landscape
And a muted dawn chorus
Curtains grow lighter
As the prospect of another day looms
Spent slumping over an empty coffee mug.
Snatched naps and
Fearful awakenings
Numbed by a cool breeze.
The perpetual state of weary bouncing,
Which darkness brings with hushed sing song,
Lingers in aching joints.
And of you,
Sacred, nocturnal child,
All I will take forwards
Is the day you placed your hands on my face
And kissed me.
By Sonia Tailor
Whilst studying my MA in Creative Writing at University of Leicester, I had gained an interest in the book publishing industry. In order to work in that field, I knew I needed to gain some experience first. I was faced with the daunting task of applying for internships. One afternoon, whilst I was filling out a long application form, I received an email advertising an intern role at Shoestring Press.
I researched the independent publishing house and saw that it specialises in publishing poetry sequences and collections. This sounded appealing to me and I sent a letter to John Lucas, the publisher. Around a week later, I received call from him and we arranged a meeting. John kindly guided me through the different processes and encouraged me to get involved as much as possible.
I was provided with the opportunity to build brilliant work relationships with a variety of people, including writers. I had frequent meetings with one writer in particular, Alan Brownjohn. We would meet in coffee shops in London and discuss different ways to promote his novel, Enjoyment. This included having it reviewed by newspapers and magazines. John provided me with the contact details of the editors. I wrote a persuasive press release and began phoning and emailing them. It was an exhilarating feeling when I saw the first review published on London Grip. Although not everyone was interested, the experience gave me an insight into how the marketing side of publishing works.
I also had a number of admin tasks to do. For example, John asked me to arrange the location of Miriam Neiger-Fleischmann’s book launch. I learnt how to contact venues and deal with a variety of people. This helped strengthen my communicational skills. When I was at the launch, I was happy with the large turnout. It made me feel proud knowing that I helped with the arrangement of the event.
John also opened me up to the sales side of publishing. I was asked to assist with Shoestring Press’s stall at States of Independence, a book fair held in the East Midlands. I sold a number of books and pamphlets. It enabled me to meet more people who had a genuine passion for books. Furthermore, I was responsible for introducing two key speakers who had their poetry collections published by Shoestring Press. It was extremely exciting.
The experience was helpful and rewarding. It developed my transferable skills and gave me a true insight into how a successful publishing house is run. Plus, there was every book lover’s dream: free books!
About the author
Sonia Tailor studied an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester. She is a peace activist who enjoys writing short stories and monologues. She has organised vigils and demonstrations, and in 2007, she travelled to Jordan to make a documentary about Iraqi refugee children. She currently runs a book blog on Instagram: @soniareads.
This is a call for submissions from current University of Leicester students for the annual G.S. Fraser Poetry Prize 2018.
A prize of £50 will be awarded to the author of the winning poem.
Any student currently enrolled at the University of Leicester may enter.
Entrants may submit up to three poems.
Poems may be on any subject but must not exceed 40 lines.
Poems must not have been published or have won another prize.
To enter please email your poem(s), one poem per page, in a Word or pdf attachment from your University email address to Nick Everett, with ‘G.S. Fraser Prize’ in the subject line and your name in the message. The deadline for submissions is: 5 p.m. on Friday 8 June 2018.
The result will be announced on Friday 22 June.
Good luck!
By Paul Taylor-McCartney
I’m now a third of my way into a six-year part-time PhD in Creative Writing with Leicester University, working on a 50,000-word dystopian novel, entitled The Recollector, with an accompanying reflective commentary of 20,000 words exploring the function of memory and identity in works from across the genre, including my own. Ask any part-time doctoral researcher about setting aside some dedicated time to study and they’ll tell you it’s a slow-burn process – a little and often should do it. Indeed, taking a measured approach to formulating, creating, revising and continually reviewing sections of material, whilst receiving objective but supportive tutelage from an expert supervisor, comes with its challenges, but also a wealth of opportunities to explore and ideate to the heart’s content.
For example, it’s taken the whole of my first year to get anywhere close to settling on an appropriate register for the creative piece. Third person - second person - then finally choosing first person and locating it entirely in the present tense. The course requires me to balance creative and critical interests, meaning I’m pursuing a range of digressionary journeys away from the core material, but each one actively deepening my appreciation of the processes and discipline required to achieve at this new level. A panel seminar at last year’s NAWE Conference has become an academic paper due to published later this summer. Last month, I returned to painting and the easel to create miniature canvasses to help define the sombre mood of my text’s dystopian setting - a setting in which the majority of the population suffer memory issues in one form or other, with a staggering rise in dementia cases. Elsewhere, drafting confessional poetry is helping sharpen the voice of the text, and I’m currently re-figuring the opening section of the novel as an installation piece for a small gallery in New York. This alone is asking me to re-engage with my previous performance work as both theatre director, actor and musician.
At another extreme, I’m planning on producing a paper version of The Recollector using an antique 1930s Olivetti typewriter, in line with my protagonist’s need to avoid committing his memories to electronic devices of any description.
Some may consider these various digressions unnecessary and even vain enterprises. For me, a PhD in Creative Writing is not simply about completing a full-length study suitable for publication across its creative and critical elements – although that is ultimately one criterion against which I’ll be measured. It is, more crucially, proving to be a fully-immersive exploration of the artistic process in its entirety, spiralling outwards from a central conceit – and the greatest expression of my writing career to date.
By Nakisha Towers
On Monday 30th April, novelist Kerry Young came to give a writing masterclass on Memory and Fiction as part of the Creative Writing MA. The masterclass was also open to other students and the public.
Young, writer of three novels, Pao, Gloria and Show Me A Mountain, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Chinese father and a mother of mixed Chinese-African heritage. She has used her childhood and upbringing as inspiration for her novels. In the masterclass, she spoke about her ‘half-remembered’ memories as a child, and the process of reshaping these experiences as an adult and constructing a work of fiction around them.
Kerry read out an extract from Pao, and she did so in the distinctive Jamaican accent in which it is intended to be read – it was captivating! Although this was primarily a workshop, Kerry has a wealth of experience and advice that left me feeling inspired and informed. In particular she spoke of the importance of pin-pointing what it is that drives us as writers, our core values; because once we understand what it is that is driving us, we’ll understand what it is that we are writing – and become better writers for it.
A truly remarkable woman. Admittedly, I hadn’t read any of Kerry’s novels, but after the workshop, I immediately bought all three!
Nakisha Towers is a student on the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester.
Welcome to Leicester
this city,
a place of exits
and arrivals,
welcomes you
as you leave
Note
This poem was first published in the poetry anthology Welcome to Leicester that Ambrose Musiyiwa co-edited with Emma Lee, published by Dahlia Publishing in 2016. Taking inspiration from the city of Leicester, the anthology brings together poems which celebrate the city. Like a much-loved family member, Leicester’s faults are acknowledged but tempered with a great deal of affection. As one of the most plural and diverse cities in the world, this book explores the story of the city, as it is seen through the eyes of the people who know it best.See http://www.dahliapublishing.co.uk/2016/09/welcome-to-leicester/. You can also read reviews of the anthology on Everybody's Reviewing here and here.
Ambrose Musiyiwa is the author of the poetry pamphlet, The Gospel According to Bobba. His poems have been featured in poetry anthologies that include Over Land, Over Sea: Poems for Those Seeking Refuge (Five Leaves Publications, 2015), Do Something (Factor Fiction, 2016), and Write to be Counted (The Book Mill, 2017).
Photo by Matthew Holmes
Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan currently lives in Ottawa, where he is home full-time with the two wee girls he shares with Christine McNair. The author of more than thirty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he won the John Newlove Poetry Award in 2010, the Council for the Arts in Ottawa Mid-Career Award in 2014, and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2012 and 2017. In March, 2016, he was inducted into the VERSe Ottawa Hall of Honour. His most recent titles include the poetry collection A perimeter (New Star Books, 2016), and the forthcoming How the alphabet was made (Spuyten Duyvil, 2018) and Household items (Salmon Poetry, 2018). An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Chaudiere Books (with Christine McNair), The Garneau Review (ottawater.com/garneaureview), seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics (ottawater.com/seventeenseconds), Touch the Donkey (touchthedonkey.blogspot.com) and the Ottawa poetry pdf annual ottawater (ottawater.com). He is “Interviews Editor” at Queen Mob’s Teahouse, a former contributor to the Ploughshares blog, editor of my (small press) writing day, and an editor/managing editor of many gendered mothers. He spent the 2007-8 academic year in Edmonton as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta, and regularly posts reviews, essays, interviews and other notices at robmclennan.blogspot.com. Here are two poems by him:
from The Book of Smaller
The book of smaller
Everything had to be broken. First, snow-people duel with hair dryers. East through the mouth. I am windowless. Echo. Repeat. The children, asleep. I’ve stew in the slow cooker. Focus now on what crumbles. Aleppo. You are history. It is painful to be so dismissed. A conversation on beauty. The fresh breath of airports, unsealed. The connection one has with the body. Look east, and kneel. The girls are still missing. What doesn’t, instead. I hate this. Boil down into nothing. Mother-of-pearl. The smallest space I can fathom.
Forty-seventh birthday
Along the horizon, a hole opens. How does the line move? The sentence? A jet-liner, manifest. To fence in a heartbeat. To barricade. What does lava protect? What is hidden. A history of volcanos on Mars. They accumulate. Swim so far upstream. Galloping. I would stroll home in the pitch. A hummingbird touches her hair. I would stumble. They banter, they bicker, they argue. Such dark is impossible. I want to surpass myself: sleep.
