Northern Gravy Edition 14 - OUT NOW!
12 writers of Poetry, Fiction and Kid Lit, plus a fantastic article by the wonderful Piu DasGupta.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as the song says and adverts constantly remind us. However, unlike just about everything else at this time of year, we’re not about to cost you a fortune.
First of all, we’ve got a little something for you that won’t cost you a penny: Edition 14 of Northern Gravy. 12 pieces of the finest new writing, plus an article by the wonderful Piu DasGupta - “How to write a page-turner for children”.
Go ahead, you can open it now, no need to wait until the 25th.
If you are in the market for a lovely Christmas present for someone special and literary in your life, however, we have a couple of suggestions you might like.
Firstly, our very own prince of poetry, Ralph Dartford, has a new collection out. House Anthems is a beautiful book, not just thanks to the gorgeous verse it contains, but the book itself is a proper stunner. You can get your very own copy, or one for a special someone, in our shop
If you want to treat yourself, and you absolutely ought to, why not consider buying yourself a ticket for our next live event? On December 12th, we’re very excited to able to bring you How To Land An Agent, with the marvellous Kesia Lupo. A veteran literary agent and editor, Kesia will help you achieve every aspiring author’s New Year’s resolution: to get published. Tickets and details can be found here: HOW TO LAND AN AGENT – with Kesia Lupo – 12th December
That’ll do for now, we don’t want to spoil your appetite for roast turkey and all the trimmings. Instead, we’ll hand over to our individual agents to introduce you to their picks for this edition:
A word from our Poetry Editor, Ralph Dartford
The poems selected for edition 14 are playful in their complete seriousness. They look at us as people and reflect on the natural and human made world. These poems are looking for answers and inciting arguments. Read them and join in!.
A word from our Fiction Editor, Nick Jones
Many of these pieces deal with time as theme, whether it be an important moment, or the span of a life. Time underpins the novel as a discipline, but here it’s used to spectacular effect by writers of exceptional skill in a shorter, but no less intricate, form
A word from our Children’s Editor, Jonny Syer
For only the second time I have decided to published all poetry, I don’t take this decision lightly but these poems screamed out at me more than any others. They bring together the things I love most about this time of year: fun, wit, humour and thought. The variety is outstanding but they link together like Christmas lights.
Poems (and illustrations) by Anna Llewellyn
Anna Llewellyn is a Welsh writer, illustrator, and literary editor living in New York City. Her work has appeared in The Toy Press, Cleaver Magazine, and Bartleby Snopes, and her plays for children have been produced across New York state. She was the winner of the 2017 Rishi Piparaiya Prize for Humor
Writing and a nominee for the 2022 New York Theater Festival’s Best Short Play competition. Her art can be seen on Instagram at @anniellewe.
“These poems are fantastic! And what a treat to be joined by illustrations. They straddle the line of poetry I read as a kid with a mix of modern flavour. I love them.” - Jonny Syer (Children’s Editor)
Urban Stargazing by Patience Mackarness
Patience Mackarness (she/her) lives and writes in rural Brittany. ‘Urban stargazing’, like a number of her stories, was inspired by sixteen years spent in the very different surroundings of inner-city Liverpool. Her work has appeared in Free Flash Fiction, Mslexia, Flash Fiction Magazine, Citron Review, and elsewhere. Links to her published work can be found at
https://patiencemackarness.wordpress.com
“Young and old, beginning and end. Two different styles, two interlinked halves, bookending the life of a character and a place.” - Nick Jones (Fiction Editor)
Poems by Rachel Cleverly
Rachel Cleverly is a poet, playwright and producer. Her debut pamphlet, Prickle, is forthcoming with flipped eye publishing. She is a Barbican Young Poet and an Old Vic Theatre Maker. Her writing has been shortlisted for the UEA New Forms Award, commended three times in the Winchester Poetry Prize, and published by The North, SPAM, and ACHE Magazine, among others. As a producer, Rachel has worked with organisations such as the Southbank Centre, the National Centre for Writing,The Poetry Society, the National Literacy Trust and Audible. Website: www.rachelcleverly.com Twitter/Instagram: @rachel_cleverl
“Rachel’s feline poems are both funny and wise. Perfectly paced with all seeing eyes and claws.” - Ralph Dartford (Poetry Editor)
Poems by Sarah Ziman
Sarah Ziman is a poet from Wales who likes cats, crisps, cake, reading and rhyme. She dislikes writing bios. She won the YorkMix Poems for Children Prize 2021, and enjoys annoying her own children by forcing them on nature walks or ‘dragging them into antique shops’. ‘Why did my Brain make me say it?’, her debut collection for children, is coming very soon. @bardymum.bsky.social
“I’m so happy to be publishing Sarah again. The power of humour and wit in these poems is unmatched. These are to be read over and over again.” - Jonny Syer (Children’s Editor)
Vaguely Gracious Moonsong by Garglestone
Garglestone is a fatuous pauper. He lives in Greece with his wife and daughter.
“Overwriting should be avoided like the plague, unless, like here, it’s used to hilarious, surreal effect.” - Nick Jones (Fiction Editor)
Poems by Tim Relf
Tim Relf’s work has appeared in such titles as The London Magazine, The Rialto, Under the Radar, The Interpreter’s House, Banshee, Acumen, Bad Lilies, Stand, The Spectator and The Friday Poem. He is an alumnus of Faber’s Advanced Poetry Academy and Writing East Midlands’ mentoring scheme, plus was 2023 poet-in-residence at Leicester Botanic Garden. His most recent novel, published by Penguin, has been translated into more than 20 languages. Twitter as: @timrel
“Tim Relf’s poems make serious points, but there is a sly wit at work here too. They deserve repeated reading as all good poems do.” - Ralph Dartford (Poetry Editor)
Poems by Vicky Gatehouse
Vicky Gatehouse is a zoologist, poet, volunteer tree-planter and children’s writer based in West Yorkshire. Her children’s poems have featured in Tyger Tyger, Dirigible Balloon, The Toy and Pan Macmillan anthologies. Vicky also writes picture books and was recently shortlisted for the Searchlight Awards and runner up for the Write Mentor Picture Book Prize. She has published pamphlets with Valley Press and Smith | Doorstop and her nature and folklore collection, The Hawthorn Bride, is recently published by Indigo Dreams. Vicky is currently working on a book of children’s poems about wild, wondrous and quirky creatures.
“These poems are filled with endless imagination. They do exactly what they should, transport the mind to other worlds. Perfect.” - Jonny Syer (Children’s Editor)
Son of a Not Boat Person by Ya Lan Chang
Ya Lan Chang is originally from Singapore and now lives in Cambridge, United Kingdom with her husband and their three-year-old son. Her writing has been published in Litro Magazine, Cha: An Asian Literary Review, and Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, with a piece forthcoming in Every Day Fiction. She has a PhD in Law from Cambridge, works full time as a law lecturer, and is a writer at heart.
“Blow by blow, heartache by heartbreak, watch as a character and a life take shape before your eyes.” - Nick Jones (Fiction Editor)
Poems by Debi Knight
Debi Knight is a Neuro-diverse poet and short story writer based in West Yorkshire who considers herself a lifelong student. She writes the life she sees and feels around her – exploring connections between humans, nature and the effects of modern life on all. She has a degree in Art History and is owned by 2 cats. Poems published in Dreich Magazine, BlackNore Review, and Poetry Cove Magazine. Twitter: @kerniggit
“Debi Knight’s poems meditate on time, music, history and language. They use great economy and imagery. This sing for us all!” - Ralph Dartford (Poetry Editor)
Poems by Laura Theis
Laura Theis’ work appears in Poetry, Oxford Poetry, The Caterpillar, Magma, Rattle, Tyger Tyger, Aesthetica, iamb, etc. Her Elgin-Award-nominated debut how to extricate yourself (2020), an Oxford Poetry Library Book-of-the-Month, won the Brian Dempsey Memorial Prize. A Spotter’s Guide To Invisible Things (2023) received the Live Canon Collection Prize and the Society of Authors’ Arthur-Welton-Award. Other accolades include the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, Poets & Players Prize, Oxford Brookes Poetry Prize, AM Heath Prize, and Mogford Prize.
Her new collection Introduction to Cloud Care and her children’s debut Poems from a Witch’s Pocket are both forthcoming in 2025.
“These poems ooze magical realism. Impressive in their structure and subject. You’ll find nuggets of gold the more you read them.” - Jonny Syer (Children’s Editor)
The Simple Things by Georgia Boon
Georgia lives in the Cotswolds. Her work has featured in Shooter and Popshot, on BBC Radio, and at Cheltenham Literature Festival. She has won commendations from the Wells and Sean O’Faolain Prizes, and been shortlisted for the Alpine Prize, The London Independent Story Prize and the Laurie Lee Prize. You can read more of her work here: https://onlyticksinthemargin.wordpress.com/
“An evocation of the past that will leave you deeply unsettled and longing for the good old days...” - Nick Jones (Fiction Editor)
Poems by Jane Burn
Jane Burn is an award-winning poet, artist, poet and hybrid writer. She is a working-class person with autism. Her work is widely published and anthologised. Her current collection, The Apothecary of Flight, is published by Nine Arches. @JaneBurn14
“Jane Burn’s poems are technically brilliant. The language always looking the reader in the eye, daring a response.” - Ralph Dartford (Poetry Editor)
Our next submission window
If you would like to submit to Northern Gravy, we will be open again for submissions from Sunday 1st December until Sunday 22nd December.
Full details can be found here: https://northerngravy.com/submissions/
