Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Writing Magazine

Happy New Year, and welcome to your first issue of 2025! Wouldn’t it be marvellous if this was your breakthrough writing year? The one where you completed that manuscript, found your voice, landed an agent/publisher, beat the block, saw a piece you’re really proud of in print – whatever it is that would put you on track for what writing success looks like for you? The beginning of the year is the time when we traditionally set resolutions for what we’d like to achieve with our writing in the months ahead. But sometimes we need a bit of help not to get sidetracked by life, and distracted from our writing. That’s why we’ve provided this bumper issue, complete with your Writers’ Competition Guide 2025, to give you the tools to…

Waking in the half light of dawnI throw the duvet over ridiculeScatter doubts with a swish of the curtainsAnd clutch my dreams close,Up and down the ladder of lifeAlone, sometimes lonelyBut, with a blank pageHope.I chase my thoughts aroundCajoling them to settleTrying to give a voice to othersAs I find mine.Words flow, my heart burstsNo words, there’s always tomorrow The fragility, and strength, of a person who dreams in words is eloquently captured in Stephanie Hart’s short poem. Shifting emotions criss-cross Hope on the Page, revealing the compexity of human experience: we’re shown images that conjure courage, resolve, hopes, sorrow, all part of the make-up of the firstperson ‘I’ narrator. The use of imagery and language is delicate, precise and imaginative, each well-placed word adding to the picture being painted,…

LETTING GO As one of the first women ordained alongside men to be priests in the Church of England, I have had the privilege of sharing in the lives of people from all walks of life, writes subscriber Hazel Whitehead. Rich or poor, saint or sinner – all human beings suffer crises and tragedies, and celebrate times of great joy. Letting Go emerged as a novel when I began to piece together the stories of women and men I had known who had loved and lost, struggled with issues of fertility, adoption and childcare, or faced their own death or that of a loved one. All these complex situations give rise to conflicting emotions. Domestic violence, sibling rivalry, sudden death, historic secrets: nobody is immune from the constraints and challenges they bring.…

IIs anyone old enough to remember the 1950s television show in which panellists were asked to identify mysterious objects from museums, and then assign them to one of the categories above? I vaguely remember my own parents tuning in but, as a small child myself, I don’t believe I could have found it very interesting. What was the point of it? I still wonder. After all, we human storytellers down the ages have never shied away from humanising just about every other entity, animate or inanimate, on earth. A singing carrot appeared in one episode of The Muppet Show, while Kevin the Carrot, his carrot family and other vegetable friends recently starred in Christmas promotions for a well-known supermarket. Speaking (or at least communicative) stones, especially in the form of…

Agents continue to look for something they can really get behind in terms of concept, such as a fresh viewpoint, quirky concept or total immersion in a world that’s so different from our own. Publishers and agents are naturally market-driven in terms of what they’re able to commission, and are constantly looking for that holy grail of the high-concept novel that is ground-breaking in its scope In terms of how to offer this as an author, whilst staying true to one’s central book idea, it’s important to research the genre you’re writing within. This will usually involve analysing the books you’re keenest on reading yourself and are most familiar with, really drilling into what your chosen genre has to offer. In this way, you might see a gap in the…

Arundel Literary Festival 2025 Creative Writing Prizes Win prizes for poetry and flash fiction in the litfest’s writing competitions for poetry up to 40 lines and flash fiction up to 500 words. In each category there are prizes of £200 and £100. The poetry judge is Patrick Osada and the fiction judge is Simon Brett. All entries must be original and unpublished. The entry fee is £5 per poem or flash fiction. The closing date is 9 February. www.thevictoriainstitute.com/literary-festival/ Cheshire Prize for Literature 2024/2025 Entries to the 2024/5 Cheshire Prize for Literature may be in the form of short stories, children’s literature, scriptwriting, poetry and flash fiction, which is a new category for 2025. This year’s contest is for writing on any theme, and has various age categories for children…

Beautiful Days Press Open until January15th, the editorial team at Beautiful Days Press will be reading manuscripts of both full-length poetry books and poetry chapbooks, to be published in 2025-26, writes PDR Lindsay Salmon. Beautiful Days Press is an NYC-based publisher of poetry books and chapbooks. They also publish a biannual journal, Works and Days. Submit the manuscript as an attachment, including a brief cover letter in the body of the email. The team are open to hybrid texts, works of lyric prose, image-text works, and other works which transgress the generic boundaries of poetry.Right and royalties discussed on acceptance. Website: https://beautifuldayspress.com…

The Walrus The Walrus describes itself as Canada’s Conversation, provoking new thinking and sparking debating on matters vital to Canadians, writes Gary Dalkin. It is a registered charity publishing independent, fact-based journalism in a national magazine eight times a year along with daily content on its website. Launched in 2003, the title has won hundreds of awards for its stories, covering technology, politics, business, the environment, arts and culture. It is open to submissions from anywhere in the world, aside from short fiction and poetry, which are reserved for Canadian contributors only. The editorial team are always looking for: Timely essays between 1,000-4,000 words on a specific topic or issue. You should have something original and significant to say, with more breadth and depth of research that a typical newspaper…

The Bath Flash Fiction Award February 2025 Win a £1,000 first prize in the next Award, which closes on 2 February. The Bath Flash Fiction Award, which runs three times a year, is given for original, unpublished short fiction up to 300 words. The winner will receive £1,000, and there are second and third prizes of £300 and £100. Two commendations each get £30. 50 longlisted entrants will be offered digital anthology publication. The Flash Award judge is Sarah Freligh. The entry fee at full rate is £9 per flash fiction/£15 for two/£18 for three. The closing date is 2 February. Website: www.bathflashfictionaward.com/enter/ Flash 500 Short Stories Competition 2024/25 The Flash 500 Short Stories Competition invites entries of original, unpublished short fiction between 1,000 and 3,000 words. All themes and…

Non-fiction may be narrative-led (a true story) or subject-led (an exploration of a topic) and this month we’re looking at creative non-fiction that combines the two. One of my favourite examples is Nigel Slater’s Toast, which is described in the cover blurb as ‘the story of a childhood remembered through food.’ It’s a coming-of-age story, which is a classic memoir form, but it’s also packed with information about the seismic change in the way we produced, preserved and prepared food during the 1960s. The titles of all the sections, which are quite short, are almost all food items such as ‘Bread and Butter Pudding’, ‘Christmas Cake’, ‘Arctic Roll’ and ‘Butterscotch Angel Delight’, which create a kind of historical timeline, so alongside the author’s personal story we have a history of…

Growing up, I wanted to be a scientist rather than a writer. I loved the idea that all the answers to my questions could be found in a book. Then, halfway through my PhD in research psychology, one of my closest friends suddenly and unexpectedly died at just twenty-two years old. I started writing to help me process this grief. Then I realised writing was another way for me to explore the questions I had about the world – which, after losing someone I loved, had become much more complicated and harder to find answers for. Once I’d caught the writing bug, I wanted to get better at it. Maybe because of my academic background, I took a methodical approach to this. I studied lots of craft books, I took…

STAR LETTER MAKE SPACE FOR WHAT MATTERS I’m tired most of the time these days. I’m afraid early morning alarms, age and caring for a family member suffering chronic pain might be catching up with me. And I find myself with little time and motivation to write very much. Often my output is limited to a verse or some flash fiction I share on Twitter (or X). These little sparks of creativity find a small audience and I am very grateful for that. And I am often quite happy with what I create under the #vss365 daily prompt on that platform. But, oh my, it’d be nice to feel awake enough to pen something a little longer. I take something from the fact that I turn up for the above…

Sometimes, Gillian asks, “What’s your name?” and then, “Do I know you?” The woman, the one she hardly recognises, doesn’t answer; she’s staring into the mirror, applying her outside face: foundation to hide imperfections, concealer for the dark circles, blusher for that healthy glow, eyeshadow, liner and mascara to make her eyes ‘pop’, lipstick in a berry shade. She follows the same ritual every morning, smudging, not layering, telling herself at least she hasn’t progressed to Botox and lip fillers like some of her friends. When she’s finished, she struggles into her support tights and the plain navy uniform, notices the buttons gaping over her chest, and acknowledges she must have put on a few pounds. ‘Quantity, not quality now,’ she thinks. Lightly camouflaged, she steps out into the cool…

When and where did your journey as an author begin? I’ve had a lifelong passion for writing and have been a journalist since my early twenties, but it is only in the past few years that I have had the time to make a serious attempt at writing novels. What is (or has been) your proudest moment as a writer? I’ve been fortunate enough to win a few awards, including a Yeovil Literary Prize, a North Street Book Prize, and I was shortlisted for the Selfies Adult Fiction Award 2024. But my proudest moment came when I held the first copy of my first novel in my hand. After much blood, sweat and tears, I’d done it. The blood loss was caused by an annoying stapler I should have thrown away…

If you have a query for Lisa, please send it by email to lisacuttsenquiries@gmail.com QMy questions relate to 1960s CID. If a victim goes missing from their home in London and then is found murdered in Cheshire, would it be possible for a Metropolitan police DS to investigate? Were officers allowed to move from different areas of the Met? Would the post mortem be carried out in Cheshire or the body taken to London? I would like the DS to use a pathologist he knew and trusted rather than a local one in Cheshire. Sophia Bennett via Facebook AFirstly, depending on your DS’s role, he may be able to work with the local police in Cheshire by means of an attachment with the Met’s Murder Squad. If that isn’t feasible…

After graduating from Durham University with a First Class Honours in History, Sarah Hornley’s publishing career began at the publishers Orion in 2012, before a brief spell working in script development. She became a literary agent in 2015 and appeared on The Bookseller’s Rising Star list in 2019. Sarah joined PFD in 2021, and her client list includes Anstey Harris, Tim Sullivan, Emma Heatherington, Russ Thomas, and Lucy Spraggan. Hodder & Stoughton will publish Sarah’s debut psychological crime thriller, Bad Blood, in March 2025. Her agent, Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment, has already sold German and Romanian rights, with Penguin securing the German rights following a four-publisher auction involving a six-figure deal. As an agent, Sarah is particularly interested in adult commercial and book club fiction, twisty thrillers, women’s fiction,…

Age (sort of) matters The Bridport Prize has launched a ‘sort of’ new prize, writes Gary Dalkin. Sort of, because the Never Too Late Award is new, it isn’t actually a separate prize, but rather an additional award to be given to the highest placed writer aged 60+ across the existing Bridport Prize categories of poetry, short story, novel and flash fiction. It is, nevertheless a ‘very good thing’, as it comes with £500 in cash. The new award has been created because ‘writers in later life often struggle to be seen despite a wealth of experience, creativity and stories to tell.’ It is championed by bestselling author Kit de Waal (aged 64) and the London Literary Agency, AM Heath (Hilary Mantel, Samantha Harvey, Tim Shipman) and aims to recognise…

Berlinn Founded in 1992, Birlinn is an Edinburgh-based independent publisher with five imprints – Arena Sport, Birlinn, BC Books, John Donald and Polygon, writes Gary Dalkin. Published authors include Alistair Moffat, Mollie Hughes, Polly Pullar, Patrick Baker, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Fraser, Val McDermid, Sue Lawrence, Angus Macdonald, Angus Roxburgh and many more. In November Jen Stout, author of Night Train to Odesa, won the First Book of the Year at Scotland’s National Book Awards. They say, if you have a work that you really believe would fit the areas covered by their imprints email info@birlinn.co.uk with a synopsis and sample material. Make clear why you think your work would suit their list, why you think you are best placed to write the book and which editor it should go…

Alternating Current Press Alternating Current Press is an indie press dedicated to publishing and promoting literature which ‘challenges readers and has an innate sense of self, timelessness, and atmosphere,’ writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. The team love ‘science, history, homebound roots, rural landscapes, It publishes full-length books, multi-author anthologies, slim chapbooks, and various print and online journals featuring fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and hybrid work. Currently submissions are invited for Footnote, a Literary Journal of History, an annual dedicated to historical and contemporary views on any topic of non-scholarly and personal history. Submit ‘individual pieces of historical writing in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid that give an author’s intimate or emotional take on historical places, people, events, or ideas. Pieces must noticeably fit a historical theme.’ The Coil is its weekday online literary…

The Dead Cat Poetry Prize 2025 The world’s only celebration of the literature of feline mortality is inviting entries. The Dead Cat Poetry Prize launched in 2021. This is the third iteration of the prize. Enter original, unpublished poems featuring dead cats up to 60 lines. The closing date is 17 March, the feast day of St Gertrude de Nivelles, the patron saint of cats. Each writer may send up to two poems. There is no entry fee but donations are welcome. Website: www.deadcatpoems.com/ The Plaza Prose Poetry Prize 2024 The contest is for writing in the hybrid form. Enter prose poetry up to 50 lines or a maximum of 450 words. There are prizes of £750, £300 and £100, and the ten shortlisted poems will be published in The…

Parsec inc The editorial team at Parsec inc seek stories for their 22nd anthology, Dark Hearts, writes PDR Lindsay-Salmon. The anthology has a women-centred theme and anyone can submit ‘speculative stories and poems about women who are antiheroes.’ Send them stories about ‘shady ladies: women and female-presenting characters breaking the rules, defying social norms, and getting up to no good!’ in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Submit short stories, no more than 5,000 words, but 3,000 words preferred. Must feature women. For poetry, their preference is for poems under 100 lines. Submit one to five poems of no more than 5 pages in total. Include a one paragraph, brief, third-person bio at the end of the story or poetry submission. Deadline: 31 January 31st. Payment: prose: 3 US…

When I do get around to thinking about New Year resolutions, mine are always the same. Listen more, talk less and write every day. Even as I think them, I know they’re not going to work. I am not a brilliant listener. As other people speak to me, thoughts race through my brain. I am the type who remembers things that are written down and not what I am told. Just ask the LSO (Long Suffering One.) Talk less? Fat chance! Write every day? I do, if you count emails to friends, but that’s not getting actual creative writing done. This year needs to be different. I need to stop thinking of myself as a lazy butterfly writer so how do I do that? Instead of flitting from one task…

Each month in WM, we feature creative writing by our subscribers. Selected pieces will be published in WM and we pay £50 for prose and £25 for poetry, and provide a mini-critique explaining what made the pieces stand out to us. As this issue marks the beginning of the new writing year, this month we’re inviting submissions on the theme of ‘The Starting Point’. Submit prose up to 500 words and poetry up to 40 lines to wmsubmissions@warnersgroup.co.uk. Include your subscriber number. The closing date is 31 January. Next month, look out for the pieces we’ve selected from the submissions call in the January issue on the theme of ‘The Gift’. SHORTLISTED Alan Bradnam; Lucy Brighton; Steven Burford; Daren Carpmail; Mark Connor; Kate Diamond; Tony Domaille; Wendy Hall; Lucinda Hart;…

Have you ever wondered when our writing hobby becomes a writing business? Is it when we win a small writing competition and bank the £25 cheque? Is it when we have a letter published in our favourite magazine and win a small prize? Or is it when we sign a publishing contract with one of the top five traditional publishing houses? My writing began as a hobby. I first dabbled with writing stage plays and scripts during my teen years, after school and at weekends. When I started work, having done a full nine-to-five (and often longer) day in the office, I would come home and write in the evenings. Then I sold my first piece. It was a word-search puzzle, for which I received a £3.50 postal order. Already,…

THOUGHTS ON SELF PUBLISHING WITH Hosting an event with a local bookshop is a powerful way for self-published authors to build local awareness, attract media attention, and connect personally with readers and retailers. Here’s how to plan, prepare, and execute a successful event. Planning the event Begin by choosing the right venue. Independent bookshops are often more receptive to local authors than larger chains. Building a relationship with your local bookshop early, by attending other events they are hosting and being a regular customer, can increase your chances of collaboration. When approaching a bookshop, avoid busy times and come prepared with a professional copy of your book and an Advance Information sheet, detailing key information like ISBN, price, and ordering options. Explore event formats like signings or multi-author panels, considering…

FREE SPEECH MATTERS Just four days after the recent US election set Donald Trump on a path to return to the White House, a group of five men holding Nazi flags paraded on the sidewalk outside American Legion Post 141 in Howell, Livingston County, Michigan, where the Fowlerville Community Theatre was staging a performance of The Diary of Anne Frank, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackettt’s 1956 Pulitzer Prize-winning an adaptation of the multi-million international bestselling Holocaust classic, Diary of a Young Girl, writes Gary Dalkin. The men were reported to shout racist and antisemitic slurs, with US Army veteran Bobby Brite telling a CNN affiliate radio station, WXYZ, that people were afraid to leave the theatre and were ‘shocked’ and ‘appalled’. He added that ‘Nobody in America should feel like…

beestung beestung is an online micro-magazine for non-binary and two-spirit writers and readers. It publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, hybrids, and art by non-binary, genderqueer and two-spirit creators. Payment is a US$20 honorarium. Website: https://beestungmag.com the sine qua non the sine qua non is a scholarly writers magazine inviting ‘well-written, well-researched, showing advance current conversations in the field’ articles about creative writing theory and craft. Articles, 2,500 to 5,000 words, must include a separate 100-word citation. Creative prose no more than 15 pages/one to five poems are also accepted. Website: https://thesinequanon.com; Just Keep Up Magazine Just Keep Up Magazine is a new magazine of science fiction and horror. Submt stories 100 to10,000 words and up to ten poems of any length. Payment: US$10 a story and US$10 a poem Website:…

The Paul Cave Prize for Children’s Literature 2025 The writing contest is for poetry and short fiction aimed at children between five and twelve. The competition from Tim Saunders Publications invites entries of unpublished poetry in any style (max 30 lines), flash fiction (max 300 words) and short stories (max 5,000 words). The prizes are £100 for best short story (12 and under) £50 for best short story aged 8 and under, £25 for best poetry and £20 for best flash fiction. Winners and all approved submissions will be included in The Paul Cave Prize for Children’s Literature 2025 anthology. The entry fees are £30 for one short story/£40 for two; £10 for up to three poems or flash fictions/£15 up to eight poems or flash fictions. The closing date…

The Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award 2025 The biennial competition for first-time prose writers has a £10,000 prize. The DRF Writers Award from the Deborah Rogers Foundation for writers within the British Commonwealth and Eire invites submissions of 15,000-20,000 words of a work in progress, which may be fiction or nonfiction, children’s or short stories, by debut UK authors. To be eligible, writers must not previously have published or self published a full-length prose book, and must not be under contract to a publisher. Entrants may have published a poetry collection. The winner will receive £10,000 and two shortlisted writers will receive £1,000. This years judges are Erica Wagner (Chair), Inua Ellams and Natalie Haynes. Include a synopsis and brief biographical note with the manuscript. Each writer may submit only…