Life is busy, worrying, stressful and chaotic at times, but it's also marvellous, awesome and full of little moments of joy when we take the time to look around us. In my experience, writing poetry can help us feel grounded and calm, so I have put together my five top tips for both new and experienced writers.
Read MoreJax Bulstrode writes poems, usually about rivers or fruit or being queer. Jax has had work published in Verandah Journal, Gems Zine, Wordly Mag, and Blue Bottle journal. You can find them online at @jaxlb1234 on Instagram. Jax lives and writes in Naarm/Melbourne.
Read MoreStephanie Powell is a poet based in London. Her work has been recently featured in the Bacopa Literary Review, The Halcyone, Not very quiet and New World Writing. She grew up in Melbourne, Australia and also works in documentary television.
Read MoreJennie Louise is a writer and poet from Hampshire, UK. She has been writing from a young age, but only began to experiment with poetry during her teen years as a form of self-expression. Jennie wrote and self-published her debut poetry collection, All The Things I Never Said, in 2020. When not writing, she can be found curled up on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea.
Read MoreT.C. Anderson is a multimedia artist based in Houston, Texas. Additionally, T.C. is a writer and poet, with work published in Capsule Stories, Pages Penned in Pandemic: A Collective, mental health anthology Pluviophile, The Raven Review, and more. She proudly serves as a reader for the literary journal for youth writer organization The Young Writers Initiative, Juven. Her poetry collection, The Forest, was published by Riza Press in 2021 and will serve as the inspirational basis of the aforementioned art installation being developed with artist Mari Omori, as well as a launching point for a larger, developing cross-media project.
Read MoreEleanor is a historian of medicine living in Yorkshire. She writes about parenting, finding belonging, and the afterlife of other versions of ourselves. She has most recently been featured in the parenting anthology Songs of Love and Strength. You can find her work at @pushing.and.pining on Instagram.
Read MoreBeyond the Veil Press is an international publisher of poetry and art for mental health awareness. They’re based in Tennessee and Colorado and are queer and ally owned. Beyond The Veil was created by two friends (Sarah Herrin and Josiah Callaway) who share a passion for mental health awareness and the supernatural. As art school graduates (majoring in Sequential Art a.k.a. comic books) their belief in the combined power of art and words is their driving force.
Read MoreGina Bowen lives, breathes, and photographs the mountains of Eastern Tennessee. She spends her time writing poetry and short stories on her porch and getting lost in the woods with her pups to photograph the beautiful landscapes.
Read MoreSome parts of self-publishing are scarier than others, and sometimes we look at the task ahead of us and wonder if writing the actual book was the easy part, especially when it comes to needing skills that some people go to college just to fully understand. But it doesn’t have to be scary or intimidating.
Read MoreReading poetry is cathartic to me. Reading poetry is supposed to be raw, confessional, a love, or hate letter from the poet to the reader. It’s supposed to be messy and thought-provoking. You make a statement; you have an impact on people through your words. You’re brave enough to touch on topics nobody else will do with such ferocity, sensibility, and finesse.
Cassie Senn’s first poetry chapbook, published in 2020, takes all the above into account and delivers poetry that cuts deep. “The Changing Temperatures of Heartache” is a collection of narrative short poems; each one takes over a single page and just because of that formatting, you get the idea that you peek into the narrator’s diary. It’s an excellent example of confessional poetry that ignites discussion around love that breaks you and cures you.
Read MoreConstance is somewhat of a late starter when it comes to writing. Growing up in a regular working-class family in the Flemish coastal region of Belgium, she didn’t have access to the right support network to be able to realize her dormant literary impulses.
Read MoreTala Woods (she/her) is an English-Syrian-Irish poet based in the UK, whose work focuses on identity, culture, love and everyday life. Tala’s poetry and articles have been published by publications such as Train River Publishing, By Me Poetry, Global Comment and CHERRYBOY Magazine. Before the pandemic, she ran poetry workshops offline (and online during lockdowns) which received extremely positive and rewarding feedback. Tala is also the co-founder of The Soft Approach (@thesoftapproach), a zine that aims to tackle tough issues with a soft approach. Before the pandemic, the poet ran poetry workshops offline (and online during lockdowns) which received extremely positive and rewarding feedback. You can find her work on Instagram (@talawrites).
Read MoreJudging a book by its cover is largely discouraged, but we all do it anyway. Sometimes, we might even buy a book just because we like the way it looks on our shelves. With this in mind, it’s important that we design a good and professional-looking cover, but this can be hard to do on a budget since most professional designers charge upwards of $400. It’s widely discouraged to design a book cover yourself unless you’re a professional or, at the very least, fairly skills in the labours of art and design, and if not, that you’re willing to learn how to be.
Read MoreBook descriptions have been the enemies of writers for as long as most of us can remember. No matter what genre you’re writing or how confident you are in your manuscript, if you’re publishing, you’re probably stressed about your book’s blurb.
Read MoreFaye Alexandra Rose (she/her) is a prose writer and poet from the midlands, UK. Her work has been published by multiple magazines and has even appeared on a spoken word podcast on Spotify. She is a Magazine Editor at small leaf press and has recently graduated with a first-class degree in Creative and Professional Writing and English Literature.
Read MoreEmily Perkovich is from the Chicago-land area. She is an Art Evaluator for Persephone's Daughters, and she spends her free time in the city with her family. Her work strives to erase the stigma surrounding trauma victims and their responses.
Read MoreBoil the kettle, steep your tea and gather your thoughts. Breathe, stretch out your body on the mat before you bring it to your desk. Gather your energy, take a slow sip of your tea and start to write. Listen out for the bird call through your open window; nature’s accompaniment to this moment of creative surrender and solitude.
Read MoreNow that your book is more than just a mess of different files on your computer, it might be tempting to say that your work here is done. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There’s still a pretty big fish to fry, and it’s pretty elusive at times: how do you tell people about your book?
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