ONE POEM – Bradley Samore

Image: Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum – Quadra 04, 2016 Bradley Samore currently lives in North Carolina and is a high school English teacher.  His writing has been featured in various publications including West Texas Literary Review, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, and SLAB Literary Magazine. Heat Lightning Out of the house and into the night flashes distract…

POETRY – Sam Arrowsmith

Image: Elijah Hiett on Unsplash Sam Arrowsmith is a recent graduate of the University of Birmingham. His academic background includes a biochemistry bachelors and a biotechnology masters. Outside of science, he is an aspiring comedian, writer and artist.   Princess on a plastic throne From the simple shapes of flat arid plains and stone box houses, she ascended…

TWO POEMS – Camille Castro

Image: Hannah Höch – Bouquet of Eyes, 1930 Camille Castro, 18, is a young poet from the island of Guam. Her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Sprout Magazine, tenderness, yea, and Minute Magazine. Aside from poetry, her interests include K-Pop, watching fashion vloggers on YouTube, and eating dim sum. Certainty Makers — They do not sing….

THREE POEMS – Austin Beaton

Image: Salvador Dali – Barcelona Sphinx, 1939 Austin Beaton studied Spanish and Creative Writing at the University of Oregon, where he was a finalist for the Walter and Nancy Kidd Memorial Writing Competition in Poetry. His work is set to appear in Peach Mag & (b)oink. He lives near the ocean in San Luis Obispo,…

POETRY – Umang Kalra

Image: Frida Kahlo – The Wounded Deer, 1946 Umang Kalra’s poems have previously appeared in Blue Marble Review, Quail Bell Magazine, VAYAVYA, Esthesia Magazine, and Coldnoon. She has previously served on the Masthead of Inklette Magazine, and is currently involved in a year-long mentorship programme with Doireann Ní Ghríofa for women of colour in Ireland….

POETRY – Elden Morrow

Image: Yayoi Kusama – I Want to Live Honestly, Like the Eye in the Picture, 2009 Elden Morrow is a recent graduate from the University of Birmingham – BA in English with Creative Writing – and is returning there to do an MA. He loves poetry and music that always appears to withhold something – lyrics…

POETRY – Chavonne Brown

Image: Jean-Michel Basquiat – Bird on Money, 1981 Chavonne Brown lives in Birmingham. He is soon to be a Creative Writing MA student at the University of Birmingham. A number of his stage plays have produced for the theatre and he hopes to do further work for the stage. He currently writes for The Unapologists…

NON-FICTION: Long twin silver line – Amber Tran

Amber D. Tran graduated from West Virginia University in 2012, where she specialized in lyrical non-fiction and contemporary poetry. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Cold Creek Review literary journal. Her work has been featured in Calliope, Sonic Boom Journal, Spry Literary Journal, Cheat River Review, and more. She has work forthcoming in The Stray…

POETRY – Beau Beakhouse

Beau Beakhouse lives in Cardiff. He is a student at Cardiff University, but has never got on with schools or academic institutions and considers dropping out to start his own creative space. He is particularly interested in metaphysics, spirituality, mystery and art, and has been published in Tŷ Celf and Quench magazine. Willow like Wisteria

SHORT STORY: The End – Tom Gumbert

Tom Gumbert lives along the Ohio River with his wife Andrea, in an area that was once an active part of the Underground Railroad. Operations Manager by day, and all-round daydreamer, he has been writing for a decade. Concerned about the state of the world, he is becoming an activist. His short stories have appeared…

Derek Walcott, humour, and the postcolonial epic – Georgia Tindale

Georgia Tindale is currently studying for an MPhil in Renaissance Literature at Cambridge, having completed her undergraduate degree in English with Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. She also edits Porridge alongside Nora and Kitty.   Derek Walcott (23 January 1930- 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright who received the Nobel Prize…

POETRY – Jessica Syposz

Jessica Syposz is a final year English with Creative Writing student at the University of Birmingham. Her interests include graphic novels, the collapse of the USSR in fiction and the relationship between history and nostalgia. She can sometimes be found writing and performing poetry and short stories.   Ms. Doldrum & the Space Man Fitting…