Northern Poetry Showcase and Roadshow

 Hello!

 I had an enjoyable night performing at the Northern Poetry Showcase and Roadshow at York St John University. I was invited as one of the five 2017-18 New North Poets, and read three of my poems to an attentive audience. 

 It has been a whirlwind year since I won my Northern Writers' Award. I have been mentored by Clare Pollard, attended two writing retreats , been published in GASP, and felt my poems strengthen. The Showcase was a cosy and fun way to celebrate the journey we New North Poets have been on.

 Thank you to the Poetry School, New Writing North, and everyone else who has supported my writing.

 Liz x

GASP by the New North Poets

 Hello!

 As you may know, I was announced as a New North Poet at the 2017 Northern Writers' Awards, which was one of my proudest achievements. 

 Part of the prize was working with The Poetry School, Clare Pollard and the other four fabulous winners - Jasmine, Maria, Michael and Rosa - to create an anthology. GASP is now here, and is free to read online. 

 I hope you enjoy my four poems: "Blood ghazal", "León", "Pilot" and "Missing Leo". If "León" and "Missing Leo" inspire you to learn more about my travels in Spain, check out my travel blog posts on León and Salamanca.

 Thank you to everyone who has supported my writing.

 Liz x

News - March and April 2018

 Hello!

 March and April were slightly surreal months this year, starting very cold and ending very warm. In Manchester we seemed to switch overnight from snow and ice to sun and blossoms.

 I worked hard towards my degree and celebrated my twenty-fourth birthday and Earth Day. I tried new baking and film clubs, enjoyed the LGBT Foundation's Sugar and Spice Festival, and I feel I grew a lot. I also saw some writing milestones and achievements.

 I performed at Verbose, a monthly spoken word night in Manchester, and read some of my poems at the Women on Top event at the LGBT Foundation. My poem "Soap" was featured in Open Mind Manchester's Mind Full of Art exhibition and anthology.

 I won Second Prize in Manchester Global Health Society's 2018 Global Health Poetry Competition, and read my poem, "Perpignan sestina", at the awards ceremony. My article "What I learnt from starting a literary journal" was nominated for the Mancunion's Article of the Year.

 I took part in my second residential at Highgreen Arts in Northumberland, part of my prize for being chosen as a New North Poet at the 2017 Northern Writers' Awards. I was mentored by Clare Pollard and did a workshop with Antony Dunn, and overall, it was a lovely weekend.

 I reviewed Niall Horan at the 02 Apollo for The Mancunion and Peter Bognanni's novel Things I'm Seeing Without You for Cuckoo Review. I continue to curate Word Life: March's issue had the theme of "Hope" and April's the theme of "Travel", with the latter featuring my poem "In Cambridge".

 My flash piece "Maybe/Things to work on" was published in Visual Verse, and I had a poem accepted by the beautiful hand-stitched journal Coast to Coast to Coast. I reached 100,000 page views on my travel blog, Neither here nor there.

 With summer on its way, hopefully there are even more exciting times to come.

 Thanks for reading.

 Liz x

Second Highgreen Arts residential

 Hello!

 As a winner of the New North Poets Prize at last year's Northern Writers' Awards, I was invited to take part in two residentials at Highgreen Arts, in rural Northumberland. The first residential was in September; the second was last week. I had a really enjoyable and memorable time there.

 Highgreen is an elegant and comfy old manor house. The five New North Poets and our mentor, Clare Pollard, spent many an hour sitting around the fire doing writing activities and discussing and reading poetry. We also had a full-day workshop with the poet Antony Dunn, which was very useful.

 I walked a lot, and found the local nature calming and inspiring. We enjoyed delicious veggie food and divine desserts - apple crumble, chocolate brownie, poached pear. We had lightning one night, which in the total darkness of the countryside was very dramatic. I would later write a poem about it.

 Overall, it was a lovely weekend in great company. I hope to do more residentials in the future.

 Liz x

News - January and February 2018

 Hello!

 So far for me 2018 has been incredibly busy. I've been working towards finishing my degree and my dissertation, training for my first 10 kilometre run and, of course, writing poetry and stories. I have seen some major milestones, which I am looking forward to sharing with you now.

 In January I went to London to take part in a poetry reading with the other four New North Poets. We read at the Poetry Society's Poetry Café, alongside our mentor, Clare Pollard, and Caroline Bird. Caroline is one of my favourite poets and this was a huge honour, especially when she remembered and referenced specific details of my poems when talking to me later. 

 We attended the TS Eliot Prize Readings and mingled with poets and publishers afterwards. It was great to speak to Andrew McMillan again and to see many other famous faces. We also took part in the Awards workshop with Malika Booker, who told us more about the nominated poets. Overall, it was a very inspiring weekend.

 I continue to enjoy curating Now Then Manchester's Word Life page: January's issue was unthemed, and February's had the theme of "Love". I hope you enjoy them.

 I had a flash fiction piece, "Fall", published in Litro, and two poems, "Ávila" and "Maybe Cygnus" published in Selcouth Station. I also reviewed Annabel Pitcher's "The Last Days of Archie Maxwell" for Cuckoo Review.

 January and February were two intense months, but I feel that I learnt and achieved a great deal. Thanks for keeping up with my news and supporting my writing.

 Liz x

New North Poets at the Poetry Café

 Hello!

 In January I was invited to London to read some of my poems at the Poetry Society's Poetry Café, with the other New North Poets - Jasmine Chatfield, Rosa Walling-Wefelmeyer, Maria Isakova-Bennett and Michael Brown -, our mentor Clare Pollard and guest performer Caroline Bird. 

 It was a wonderful experience. We also attended the T. S. Eliot readings and the lecture beforehand with Malika Booker, and overall it was an insightful and inspiring weekend. I hope to continue doing poetry readings and sharing my work.

 Liz x

News - September and October 2017

 Hello!

 I am back from my year in France and Spain and am getting stuck into my Masters. It is lovely being back in Manchester - I can review local gigs for The Mancunion and be a Digital Reporter for Manchester Literature Festival. I have also been involved in some creative projects around the city and with The Writing Squad.

 Firstly, I want to tell you about some publications I have been a part of. Two of my poems, "Bartók's Dance Suite and sour" and "Green Flash", were published in The Compass, and my poem "Serpentine" appeared in Planet Slop. My flash piece "Stuff and sales" was published in both Visual Verse and Creative Review.

 My poem "Anatomy" appeared in Papaya Press's What She Knew zine, and my "Things that are inexplicably similar" was chosen for the 2017 Peeking Cat Poetry Anthology. Three of my poems, "Old rain", "Eden" and "Going", were published in Introduction X: The Poetry Business Book of New Poets.

 It has also been good to see some projects I have edited for coming to fruition, such as The Rebirth Issue of Miracle Magazine, for which I was Head Poetry Editor. September's Word Life had the theme of "Family"; October's, the theme of "Memories".

 We celebrated one year of Foxglove Journal, my online venue for poetry and fiction. I am very proud of all that the Journal has achieved. I also did an interview with Peeking Cat Poetry, and have a snazzy new profile on The Writing Squad's site. I hope you enjoy learning more about my writing.

 I reviewed several books for Cuckoo Review: Tender Earth by Sita Brahmachari, Songs About Us by Chris Russell and The Secret Cooking Club: Confetti & Cake by Laurel Remington. I also wrote a piece on Indigo Girls' 1994 album Swamp Ophelia for The Mancunion.

 I reviewed Honey G and Gabrielle Aplin for The Mancunion, and Roddy Doyle for Manchester Literature Festival's Chapter and Verse Blog.

 Finally, I took part in a writing residency in Northumberland, as part of my prize for being announced as a New North Poet in the Northern Writers' Awards. It was a great weekend and the countryside was truly beautiful. I enjoyed getting to know the other four winning poets.

 So, I had a productive two months. Here's to a fun, creative winter.

 Thanks for reading.

 Liz x

Writing Squad profile

 Hello!

 I'm delighted to have an elegant page on the new Writing Squad website. You can find out about my achievements as a writer, and there are links to my social media and online projects.

 The Writing Squad have also shared the news about my Northern Writers' Award.

 I hope you enjoy the new site!

 Liz x

Interview with Peeking Cat Poetry

 Hello!

 Peeking Cat Poetry's interview with me is now online. I discuss blogging, travel, achievements and my favourite words.

 I hope you enjoy it!

 Liz x

News - May and June 2017

 Hello!

 May and June were hectic months for me, what with doing my exams in Spain and then finishing my semester there and returning to the UK. There have also been some major developments on the writing front, and I can't wait to tell you about them.

 Firstly, I won a Northern Writers' Award! I was chosen as one of five New North Poets. My prize is a year of mentoring with The Poetry School and Clare Pollard. This is a huge milestone in my writing career and I'm very happy.

 Secondly, I've had a number of poems published in magazines and journals. "Perpignan" appeared in The Fractured Nuance, "Why" in Peeking Cat Poetry, "How I could learn to dance" in The Ham, "Waiting" in The Kindling, "Serpentine" in In The Red, "Flowers" in Sea Foam Mag and "Meiga" in Antiphon.

 My poem "Unnaturally blue" was published in Picaroon Poetry's Troubadour anthology and I found out that a story about my cat, Kitt, had been published in Your Cat Magazine back in December. I also wrote an article on French-language musicians for Cuckoo Review.

 I'm enjoying my post as curator of Now Then Manchester's Word Life section - May's issue had "The sea" as a theme, and included my poem "Ink sea" along with work from four other writers. June's issue had the theme of "You" or the second person, and included five great pieces.

 Finally, my magazine, Foxglove Journal, celebrated its one hundredth piece of writing. Editing Foxglove has been a wonderful experience, and I look forward to the next hundred pieces and beyond.

 Overall, I'm pleased with how I'm doing with my writing and other projects, and am looking forward to a summer of creativity.

 Thanks for reading.

 Liz x

Northern Writers' Awards 2017

 Hello!

 I am extremely happy to have been announced as a winner in the New North Poets section of the Northern Writers' Awards. The ceremony, on Thursday night at Northumbria University, was a really lovely evening of food, writing and celebration.

 Receiving such a prestigious award is amazing. I'm greatly looking forward to my prize, which is a year of mentoring with The Poetry School and Clare Pollard. I'm also excited to get to know the four other poets chosen. The next year looks to be a great one for me creatively.

 Many thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed my writing over the years, and congratulations to all of the award-winners.

 Liz x