Blog

by Jeremy Poynting

An Introduction to Writing Romance Across Cultures
Saturday 25 July 2026, 2–4pm
Online (Zoom)
FREE
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It's well and truly summer now! To celebrate, we've taken a whopping 40% off all poetry titles until 6 July 2026.  There's no need to add a code—the discount will be automatically applied to your order.

So begin searching now for an incredible saving.

We're very excited to share that Shauna M. Morgan's debut collection Ground Provisions has been longlisted for the 2026 Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection in the 2026 Forward Prizes for Poetry.

by Barsa Ray

I’m delighted to have my short story Goddess published in Wasafiri 123.

The story is about Durga, a browbeaten wife and daughter-in-law, who is ground down by her domestic and work life. Her pair of extra hands help her accomplish her never-ending list of tasks. Durga thinks everyone has these invisible arms, which are taboo to discuss, not knowing that she has them because she is the goddess Durga.

David Lambert

I flew to Tobago mid-January 2026. It was 27 years (!) since I wrote the opening lines of The House in Bacolet, and 16 since I’d been back to the island of my birth. Far too long. It was to be a joyous homecoming, not least as I’d arranged the novel’s Tobago launch in the big new Bacolet Beach Club Hotel right there on the beach.

Emily Zobel Marshall took part in a live radio show with Remember Oluwale and Chapel FM, supported by Leeds Beckett University. Emily was joined by Efua Boadu and Lara Rose from the Inscribe Readers & Writers Group, who read work created at her workshop earlier that day. Missed it? Don't worry! Our friends are Chapel FM caught the whole thing on camera. Watch the show in full below.

Timestamps

18:15 Efua Boadu
46:58 Emily Zobel Marshall
55:56 Lara Rose

Behold by Shara McCallum is out today! Moving between Jamaica and museums around the world, Shara McCallum gathers the voices and silences that shape our seeing: the labourers erased from the archive, the children left behind, the quiet watchers in the gallery.

Behold is a bold call to attention, a refusal of the shallow glance, and a powerful reminder of what becomes visible when we truly look.

Join Anthony Vahni Capildeo among the Creative Writing Staff and Alumni of York for a Celebration of Creative Writing this April 22nd. Readings start at 4:45pm along with a reception at 7pm.

More than words: The healing power of poetry