Announcement:
Contributors to The Green Issue
In The Green Issue (December 2020), “everyone” was…
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MIKKI ARONOFF – ‘EVERYWHERE GREEN’
Mikki Aronoff’s work has appeared in The Lake, EastLit, Virga, Bearing the Mask: Southwest Persona Poems, Love’s Executive Order, bosque9, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, SurVision, Love Like Salt, London Reader, Popshot Quarterly, and elsewhere. A New Mexico poet and Pushcart nominee, she is also involved in animal advocacy.
ANN ATKINS – ‘PROGRESS?’
Ann Atkins likes playing with words and performing them to unsuspecting audiences across the Midlands. Plunging into poetry with both feet since discovering the local scene two years ago, Ann has since featured at Coventry’s Positive Images Festival and recently became Leamington New Year Slam Champion. Keep up to date with Ann’s work on Facebook or Twitter.
MICHAEL BIRD – ‘THE BAMBOO CLOCK FACE’
Michael Bird is a writer and journalist, based between Bucharest and London, who experiments with form, content and media, and the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. Recent published work includes ‘The Calling’ (Grist ‘Trouble’ Anthology, 2019), ‘These Walls of Me’, (second prize, TheShortStory.Net competition, 2018) and ‘Fallout’ (Storgy, Exit Earth Anthology, 2017). As a journalist, he has investigated government corruption in eastern Europe, fake news by the British media, and killer drugs in Ukraine and Georgia. Bylines include The Independent on Sunday, Mediapart, Politico and EU Observer, and he is a guest correspondent for BBC Radio 5. Find out more on Michael’s website.
CECILE BOL – ‘LITTLE BEAN’
Cecile Bol is a Dutch writer with a small family and a big garden in the north of the Netherlands. She is the co-leader of a local English poetry stanza. Her English work has appeared (or is due to appear) in The Blue Nib, Black Bough Poetry, Eye Flash Poetry Journal, Selcouth Station, Vamp Cat Magazine, impspired, Picaroon Poetry, The Lake and anthologies from The Frogmore Press and Earlyworks Press.
RUTH BRADSHAW – ‘NATURAL CAPITAL’
Ruth Bradshaw works part-time in environmental policy and has an MA in Wild Writing from the University of Essex. She writes both short stories and creative non-fiction and her work has recently appeared in, or been accepted by, a number of anthologies, journals and websites including Flash #MyLandmarks, Autumn Colours, The Same Havoc, Thorn Literary Magazine, The Clearing and Canary Literary Magazine. When not writing or working, Ruth can often be found in the woods near her home in South London and occasionally on Twitter (@ruthc_b).
LEANNE BRIDGEWATER
Leanne Bridgewater was a talented poet and artist, and one who played a dynamic role in her local arts and literary communities. She was a valued performer at our Fire & Dust poetry nights, especially back when they were struggling to get off the ground. She helped out with, and contributed to, Here Comes Everyone in the early days of our partnership with Silhouette Press. She once stepped in to rescue us when we received almost no art submissions for The Toys and Games Issue, offering up a generous amount of playful illustrations for us to include. Leanne was a committed vegan and animal rights activist with a big heart, and she cared about this planet – which is why we felt The Green Issue was the right magazine to dedicate to her memory. We just hope we’ve done her proud. Above all, Leanne was our friend and is still deeply missed by all who knew her. R.I.P.
Leanne often described herself as a poetist with an overly active imagination, and her work exhibits a keen interest in ‘pareidolia’ (seeing faces within patterns). Before moving to Coventry in 2013, she created some of her biggest projects to date while studying an MA in Creative Writing at Salford University. These projects included creating a three thousand word sentence, a dictionary of 12000 made-up words and an eight foot obelisk that was hammered, cut and dismantled during a live performance. Her poetry was shortlisted for the 2015 Melita Hume Poetry Prize and her innovative debut collection Confessions of a Cyclist, based on bike journeys around Coventry, was published by Knives Forks & Spoons Press. In 2019, Hesterglock Press published posthumous collection Dharma Dialogue in memory of Leanne.
If anyone out there is feeling so low that they might take their own life, please consider contacting a helpline. For the sake of yourself, and everyone who cares about you, please don’t just act on the negative thoughts. Try talking it through with someone first. If you’re not sure who to turn to, the UK numbers on this MIND webpage are free to call, anonymous and non-judgmental. Some offer alternative support via texts and emails, if saying things out loud feels too difficult in the moment.
RACHEL CARNEY – ‘THIS IS HOW IT STARTS’
Rachel Carney has had poems published in several magazines and journals including Ink Sweat and Tears, The New Welsh Review, and Acumen. She is a book blogger and has also written articles and reviews for various magazines and websites including Wales Arts Review and The Poetry School. One of her poems was shortlisted for the 2019 Bridport Prize.
GENEVIEVE CARVER – ‘REWILDING’
Genevieve Carver is a Sheffield-based poet, spoken word artist and theatre-maker. Her work has been appeared in publications including Iota, Envoi, and The North, and her first collection, A Beautiful Way to be Crazy, was published by Verve Poetry Press (2020). She is touring with her live band The Unsung throughout 2020.
ROBERT CASELLA – ‘AT TWENTY-SIX ON SAN FRANCISCO’
I don’t have a very interesting biography. Just trying to pay the rent. I was, however, a journalist in Indonesia in my thirties when the whole country was going to hell. That was interesting. Finding myself surrounded by burning buildings and thousands of people rioting in the streets of Jakarta at two in the morning was interesting. Doe-eyed university students handing me Molotov cocktails was interesting. Men wielding machetes and wanting to kill me because they thought I was Australian was pretty interesting as well. Storming the parliament building with three thousand Jakartans and then being repelled by the Indonesian army (they had rifles, we didn’t), was very interesting. Getting teargassed and having rounds of artillery fly over my head was interesting, too. But I am made dull by America. For Pat Sajak is not interesting. Nor is Miley Cyrus. Nor is the president’s Slovenian wife who struts through the aftermath of natural disasters like a well-bred horse in Delpozo dresses and Christian Louboutin pumps. I recently had a woman from Bulgaria tell me how fortunate I was to grow up in the United States. If she only knew. How could I tell her that my childhood had been far from ideal? That I was poor in a wealthy nation? That I had my ass kicked on an almost daily basis by the mongrelized sons of drunken house painters and speed-addled sheet metal mechanics? Having grown up in a communist country, she naturally assumed it was all roses for me. I didn’t bother trying to explain it to her. She would never understand. But I’ll always love the dream they fed us as children in elementary school. George Washington chopping down the cherry tree, Honest Abe growing up in a log cabin, Johnny Appleseed wearing a tin pot on his head. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in front of the flag, our right hands placed reverently over our hearts. How great it was to be an American, how lucky we were! They didn’t tell us that the founding fathers owned slaves, nor did they tell us about the wholesale slaughter of the American Indians (that’s what we called them back then). Manifest Destiny was a good thing. Ah, but please forgive me for going on and on and on. I’m drinking cheap wine and it’s 3:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep. In other words, I’m miserable, my head isn’t right. So, yes, forgive me, please.
NICHOLAS COBB – ‘FIELD NOTES1’
“My practice involves working with photography and model-making, much of it concerned with Green issues. I made the series ‘Field Notes’ to shake myself out of a feeling of despondency that I felt about climate change and the catastrophic decline in many species that has occurred in my lifetime. On many occasions during 2019 I visited Knepp Farm (Sussex), famous in environmental circles for returning the farmland to nature. Over these months I recorded weather and animal onomatopoeia and took photographs of mostly grasses and plants, which I could see reflected in a dichroic mirror I used, held or propped up, in order to distort the colour and shapes of the subject, and gain a more painterly appearance to the images. These were all collaged together with other related imagery to make the series of 30 collages that celebrate the abundance of life I encountered at Knepp.” You can find Nick on his website.
JACK COOPER – ‘GRATEFUL, THEY PLACE ME’
A member of Coventry Stanza, Jack has been published by Young Poets Network, Poetry Birmingham, and The Oxford Magazine. He is currently undertaking a PhD in embryonic cell migration at the University of Warwick. He can often be found on Twitter (@JackCooper666).
MARY COURTNEY
Mary Courtney is a Coventry artist and poet – and co-founder of the grassroots creativity group “Sitting Rooms of Culture”.
SETH CROOK – ‘WNDOW’
Seth Crook has taught philosophy at various universities; and is transitioning into a seal. His poems have appeared in such places as The Rialto, Magma, The Moth, Gutter, Envoi, plus in anthologies such as Port (Dunlin Press). His visual-word poems have appeared in Gutter, Streetcake, The Projectionist’s Playground and Snakeskin.
THOMÁS DORIGON – ‘BUTTERFLIES’
Thomás Dorigon is a Brazilian self-taught artist in the continued pursuit of beauty. Although his main way to express himself is through collages, he is also into photography, music, writing and poetry. Thomás draws most of his inspiration from nature and its therapeutical power, being especially interested in the authenticity and the uniqueness of each living thing. Firstly using old magazines, a pair of scissors and some glue, he is currently venturing himself into digital collages.
TESSA DUELL – ‘MAN’S BEST FRIEND’
Tessa is an aspiring author based in East Anglia and an MA graduate with doctoral dreams and poetic visions. Having been short-listed for the Benjamin Franklin Literary Prize 2018, she plans to take her troubling fiction further afield. Tessa aims to publish her debut novel ‘Joel Harte was a Showman’ in the coming years – a semi-biographical account of a showman who leaves fairground life for mainstream society, and the posts and pillars he’s knocked from on the way. For now, she enjoys tackling writing competitions and open-submissions, disambiguating their themes. Tessa’s also a poet and general artmonger, to be found on Instagram with the username ms_mustelid.
AYSAR GHASSAN – ‘IN PLAIN SIGHT’
Aysar Ghassan lives in Coventry. His poems have been published in journals including The Interpreter’s House, Poetry Birmingham, The Lampeter Review, Magma, Strix, Under the Radar, Abridged, Washington Square Review and The Scores, as well as in anthologies such as Diversifly (Fair Acre Press). In 2019, he represented Coventry in the Coventry-Cork Poetry Exchange. Aysar is currently a Dynamo mentee with Nine Arches Press. ‘In Plain Sight’ was originally published in Magma, Issue 72, 2018.
ALISON THERESA GIBSON – ‘GREEN WITH’
Alison Theresa Gibson has been published in Spelk, Every Day Fiction, Mechanics’ Institute Review, the Nottingham Review, Crack the Spine, Litro, and others. She won the Furious Gazelle Spring Writing Contest in June 2019. She is completing her Master’s in Creative Writing at University of Birmingham. Find Alison on her website and @AlisonTheresa87. ‘Green With’ was originally published in January 2019 in Pure Slush, Envy 7 Deadly Sins Vol. 6
BARBARA ANA GOMEZ – ‘GREEN WORLD’
Barbara Ana Gomez is a Spanish-born illustrator who’s been based in London since 2007. Her often intricate artworks are created using a mixture of digital and hand-drawn techniques. You can see more of her work on her website.
ELLEN HARRISON – ‘UNFURL’
Originally from Yorkshire, Ellen Harrison lives in Warwickshire and holds an MA in Professional Creative Writing. Her work has appeared in Lucent Dreaming, Silver Apples Magazine and Queer Sci Fi amongst others. She has presented her work in local exhibitions and read her poetry on air, on BBC CWR. She tweets, @_EllenHarrison.
STEVE HARRISON – ‘IT SEEMED SUCH A SMALL BOX TO HOLD A FOREST’
Steve Harrison was born in Yorkshire and lives in Shropshire where he worked teaching. His work has been anthologised in Emergency Poet collections, Wenlock Poetry Festival, The Physic Garden, Three drops from a Cauldron, Pop Shot, HCE, Poets’ Republic and Wetherspoons News. On-line appearances include Riggwelter, Fair Acre Press, Poetry Village and Poetry on Loan. He performs across the Midlands and is a previous winner of the Ledbury Poetry Festival Slam.
CEINWEN E CARIAD HAYDON – ‘INEXPLICABLE’
Ceinwen writes short stories and poetry. She is widely published in online magazines and in print anthologies. Her first chapbook was published in July 2019: ‘Cerddi Bach’ [Little Poems], Hedgehog Press. She was a winner in the Nicely Folded Paper Pamphlet Competition, July 2019. Her first pamphlet is due to be published 2019/20. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and has an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University, UK (2017). She believes everyone’s voice counts.
MARTIN HAYES – ‘IF WE KILLED 99% OF THE WORLD’S POETS’
Martin Hayes was born in London and has lived around the Edgware Road area all of his life. He has worked in the courier industry for over 30 years and is the author of four books of poetry: Letting Loose The Hounds (Redbeck Press, 2001), When We Were Almost Like Men (Smokestack, 2015), The Things Our Hands Once Stood For (Culture Matters, 2018) and Roar! (Smokestack, 2018).
JULIE HAYMAN – ‘TORNASSUK’
Julie Hayman’s short stories have been widely published in magazines, anthologies and on radio. ‘Tornassuk’ was shortlisted for the Bedford Writing Competition 2015.
HILAIRE – ‘THE LANGUAGE OF PLANTS’
Hilaire is co-author with Joolz Sparkes of London Undercurrents, published by Holland Park Press. She was poet-in-residence at Thrive Battersea in 2017, and has poems published in numerous magazines and in three anthologies from The Emma Press. Triptych Poets: Issue One (Blemish Books, Australia, 2010) featured a selection of her poems. Her collaboration with the artist Stephen Graham, indoors looking out (lower case press, 2020), features haiku and tanka written in response to lockdown. Hilaire also blogs.
KEVIN JACKSON – ‘RAW GREENS?’
Kevin Qweaver Jackson, based in Nottingham, has been writing poetry that “dares us to care” for over ten years. A queer activist, he’s passionate about creative expression that pushes understanding and grows community. His second book, a collection of poems called Loves Burn, was published in January 2020 by Big White Shed. He performs all over, with work published widely including in Burning House Press, HCE magazine, Porridge Magazine, RFD Journal and in various anthologies including Desire, Love, Identity: Contemporary perspectives on queer lives, published by Global Words Press in 2019. Kevin also blogs on Facebook.
STEFFAN JENKINS – ‘WHERE BLACK STARS HANG IN THE HEAVENS’
A lover of prose, painting, pianos and things that do not start with the letter ‘p’, Steffan Jenkins is a writer from Rugby. His interests include horror, cats, the artwork of Alfred Kubin and Weird fiction; the latter he is researching for his PhD. Which is another thing that happens to start with ‘p’.
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EMILIE LAUREN JONES – ‘THE QUIET PRESERVING OF CLOVER’
Emilie Lauren Jones has performed at a variety of events and venues across the country from the back rooms of pubs to centuries old castles. She has recently been published in Under the Radar magazine, HCE magazine and Riggwelter, and anthologies including: The View from Olympia (Half Moon Books), Bloody Amazing (Beautiful Dragons Collaborations and Yaffle Press) and Places of Poetry: Mapping the Nation in Verse (One World Publications). In 2019 she was one of the commissioned poets for the UK City of Culture project ‘Humans of Cov’. She was the 2019 PGR Slam winner, Stafford Word Slam winner, and a Gorilla Slam finalist. Emilie has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham. She is Poet in Residence for Hillz FM and part of the 2020 cohort for the Nine Arches Press ‘Dynamo’ scheme. You can follow Emilie on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter (@emilielaurenxxx) or visit her website.
BABO KAMEL – ‘ONCE, LOST IN THE MAGIC OF THE FOREST’
Originally from Montreal, Babo Kamel now resides in Florida. Her work is published in literary reviews in the US, Australia, and Canada including the Greensboro Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, and most recently in Poet Lore. She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson’s Program for Writers, is a Best of Net nominee, and a six-time Pushcart nominee. Her chapbook After is published with Finishing Line Press and her work is published in Best Canadian Poetry 2020. Find Babo on her website.
HANK KIRKTON – ‘THE SOUL OF THE SKUNK CABBAGE’
Hank Kirton was born years ago and has written eight books. He is survived by an imaginary daughter.
JOHN KITCHEN – ‘UNEASE RECYCLED’
John Kitchen is a retired primary headteacher based in Leicester, UK. He writes plays and poems. The latter have been published in Under the Radar, HCE, IS &T, London Grip and by The Emma Press. He has been read on BBC Radio 3 by Imogen Stubbs.
NEIL LAURENSON – ‘A SHROPSHIRE COUNCILLOR’
Neil Laurenson is a stand-up poet based in Worcester. He has regularly performed around the country for over six years, including at Wenlock Poetry Festival, Ledbury Poetry Festival and Cheltenham Poetry Festival. His debut book Exclamation Marx! was published by Silhouette Press.
AARON LAW – ‘ANCIENT ARDEN CATTLE’
“Local photographer interested in all things Coventry. I live in Allesley, which goes into areas of Ancient Arden – hedgerows and fields that have remained untouched for centuries despite changing methods of farming. The river Sherbourne begins in a field next to the shot I have submitted, which is the beginnings of a settlement in Coventry 1200 years ago!”
FIONA LEE – ‘LOOK AT YOU’
Fiona works with words.
ANDREA MBARUSHIMANA – ‘LEAFLIGHT’ and ‘LUGGAGE’
Painted, printed, published, no ambition to conquer.
DAVID MCVEY – ‘GREEN ISLE OF INDUSTRY’
David McVey lectures in Communication at New College Lanarkshire. He has published over 120 short stories and a great deal of non-fiction that focuses on history and the outdoors. He enjoys hillwalking, visiting historic sites, reading, watching telly, and supporting his home-town football team, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy FC.
CRAIG MUIR – ‘ALDERMOOR LANE’
Craig Muir is a United Reformed Church Minister in Coventry, who hosts a variety of projects supporting vulnerable communities and picks up stories along the way. Some detail has been exaggerated to tell a tale. Craig can be found on Twitter (@cyan_m).
POLLY MOONEY – ‘FOX’
Polly Mooney is a recently graduated freelance illustrator and animator from Coventry. Whilst she was studying she focused on creating children’s illustrations and animations and is looking to becoming a author and illustrator of children’s picture books. She shares the development of her work on YouTube and Instagram, under her brand and online alias Pollygone Illustration.
JENNY NASH – ‘YELLOW WISHES’
Jenny Nash uses the experiential nature of her photographic practice as an important component in her work. Nash documents spaces of memory and appropriates PTSD treatments such as returning to sites of past trauma with her camera. Alternatively, she confronts past trauma in self portraiture sessions which enables her to access deep memories and converse with elements of her history thought to have been abandoned to the unconscious. This practice methodology of Solo-Phototherapy is derived from the work of Rosy Martin and Jo Spence who developed phototherapy in the ‘80s.
Nash experiments with different methods of deconstruction and reconstruction of self portraits in an attempt to draw content from the unconscious into the conscious as research into photographic abstract expressionism. This is all practiced within the perimeters of her own methodology of Auto-Pathography which she developed from the work of photographic artist Dr. Spencer Rowell.
Jenny Nash began as a documentary and protest photographer which has taken her all over England in an attempt to document specifically LGBTQ+ Pride and her work with Stand Up To Racism. Nash also documents the predominantly Muslim community she lives in in East London portraying them as the integrated, hard working members of the UK that they are. She sees this practice as using her white and heterosexual privilege the best she can to amplify the voices of the BAME and LGBTQ+ community and break the media narrative that is driving her country to the political right. Find her on Instagram and Twitter.
ANTONY OWEN – ‘THE SABOTEUR’
Antony Owen is a writer from Coventry with six volumes of poetry published since 2010. His latest, The Nagasaki Elder (V. Press), was shortlisted for the coveted Ted Hughes Award and his seventh collection, Cov Kids, is due out in May 2021 (Knives Forks & Spoons Press). His poems have been published worldwide and translated into several languages. He is widely known for his progressive peace poetry, focusing on human suffering attributed from modern conflicts and intervention. Owen was selected by CND Peace Education as one of their first national patrons in 2015, is a recipient of the 2016 Coventry Peace & Reconciliation Award for various peace projects, and is also a category winner of The British Army’s first ever poetry competition.
BARRY PATTERSON – ‘OLD BROCK SHOULD NOT STAND ALONE’
Barry Patterson is a writer & performer living in Coventry. Originally a science teacher, he has worked as a guide in museums and nature reserves, and these days his alter ego, the Wild Man of the Woods, is Britain’s widest travelled and longest running green man performance. He is also a well-known figure on Coventry’s poetry scene and his first collection, Nature Mystic was published by Heaven Tree Press in 2008. In 2012 his poem ‘Advice to a Geordie Miner Lad at Pooley’ was mounted as a public monument at Pooley Pit Head near Polesworth in N. Warwickshire. He is currently the Poet Laureate of Wroth Silver, one of the oldest continuously recorded public ceremonies in Britain. His most recent publication, Land Mandala, describes journeys through sacred landscapes in England, Tibet, Scotland and Bhutan.
NICK PEARSON – ‘GHERKIN’
Nick Pearson is a Telford based writer and poet who regularly reads his work at events across the Midlands. He has been published in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies, and his collection Made in Captivity is available from Offa’s Press.
PYSYRÕ – ‘CHILD AND NATURE’
The pseudonym “pysyrõ” is an indigenous guarani word meaning “protect, preserve, save”. pysyrõ completed her studies in Art and Psychology at the universities of Rennes – France, Barcelona – Spain and Porto Alegre – Brazil. She focused her research on the theme of artistic miscegenation observing the natural, cultural and spiritual phenomena. She taught Art at the National Institute School of Fines Arts (University of Uruguay) and her work took on a radical environmental dimension. pysyrõ uses natural pigments and keeps searching and experimenting with new ones in her drawings and paintings. She is also really concerned about the preservation of fauna and flora, and her artistic production also uses minimalist collage, recycled and organic materials with poetic texts to illustrate this concern. She is researching the use of natural medicine and plants and how this practice can be related to art. pysyrõ has a strong experience in clay modelling, especially used as a means of therapeutic care for adults and children to improve their mental health.
BRENDA READ-BROWN – ‘THE GREEN’
Brenda Read-Brown has won many poetry slams in the UK, and performed everywhere from Texas to the local low dive. In November 2018, V Press published a book of her page poetry, Like love. Her greatest joy comes from helping others find their words.
THOMAS REED-WILLEMAIN – ‘ATMOSPHERICS’
Dr. Thomas Reed Willemain is a software entrepreneur, emeritus professor of statistics, and former intelligence officer. He holds degrees from Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His memoir Working on the Dark Side of the Moon: Life Inside the National Security Agency was published in 2017. A native of western Massachusetts, he lives near the Mohawk River in upstate New York.
C.R. RESETARITS – ‘ICEBURG’
C. R. Resetarits is a writer and visual artist. Her art and collages have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including the covers of the current issues of The Florida Review and Falling Star. You can follow C.R. Resetarits on Instagram and Twitter or visit her website.
TARA RUTLEDGE – ‘GREEN PEACE’
A visual artist based in Coventry, Tara has a wide range of artistic influences and loves to experiment with different media including projection, photography, soundscapes, prose, lighting and augmented reality. ‘Green Peace’ is a photograph of one of several artworks created by Alinah Azadeh for the Rising Global Peace Forum in 2016. Each artwork was left in the Ruins of Coventry Cathedral for someone to find and adopt. I wanted to capture the depiction of the tank, an image of war and destruction, against the statue of Reconciliation by Josefina de Vasconcellos, representing peace and reunion.
LISA REILY – ‘BUS SHELTER’
Lisa Reily is a former literacy consultant, dance director and teacher from Australia. Her poetry and stories have been published in several journals, such as Amaryllis, London Grip, Panoplyzine, Riggwelter, Mused, Wanderlust and River Teeth Journal’s Beautiful Things. You can find out more on Lisa’s website.
RICHARD RISEMBERG – ‘THE TRUE HIGH COUNTY’
Richard Risemberg was born into a Jewish-Italian household in Argentina, and brought to Los Angeles to escape the fascist regime of his homeland. He has lived there since, except for a digression to Paris in the turbulent Eighties. He attended Pepperdine University on a scholarship won in a writing competition, but left in his last year to work in jobs from gritty to glitzy, starting at a motorcycle shop and progressing through offices, retail, an independent design and manufacturing business, and most recently a stint managing an adult literacy program at a library branch in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city. All has become source material for his writing. You can find Richard’s blog and news bits at Crow Tree Books.
AMELIA ROUSE – ‘RIVERSIDE LANDSCAPE’
“I love to make landscape illustrations using pen and ink. I love drawing, and nature has endless inspiration.”
NICK RYLE WRIGHT – ‘A MAN OF THE LAND’
Nick Ryle Wright is a writer of short fiction, currently based in the New Forest. He has had stories published in numerous magazines, journals and anthologies, including Open Pen, The Nottingham Review, Firewords, The Fiction Pool and Nothing Is As It Was. He is at work on a novel, and can be found on Twitter (@nickrylew).
JOÃO SARAMAGO – ‘INVISIBLE MATTER I’
Born 1985 in Lisboa, Portugal. “My work is essentially abstract drawing with a ballpoint pen. I am attracted by forms and shapes in nature referring to emotional states and ideas of transformation. This drawing in The Green Issue illustrates a micro universe, the inside of a plant or a body. Its intricate, elaborated and organic forms, invites the observer to take out the meanings and make their own interpretations.”
YASH SEYEDBAGHERI – ‘A PLANT GROWS IN CONCRETE’
Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His work is forthcoming or has been published in journals such as 50 Word Stories, Silent Auctions, City. River. Tree. and Ariel Chart.
ADAM STEINER – ‘FLUME’
Adam Steiner writes poetry but works mainly as an author and journalist, writing books, articles, and reviews for Headstuff, Hong Kong Review of Books, The Quietus and Nothing In The Rulebook. His novel Politics of The Asylum was published in 2018 and his non-fiction title Into The Never: Nine Inch Nails and the Creation of The Downward Spiral was released in 2020. He has lectured on creative writing and publishing at Coventry University and worked in schools with White Water Writers, The Complete Works, and Eastside Educational Trust. In 2017, Adam co-ordinated the ‘Disappear Here’ project, during which artists and writers created and screened 27 collaborative poetry-films about Coventry Ring-road.
TANNER – ‘THE BITTER FERN OF THE POOR’
“I congealed in Liverpool, ’84. Been pestering the indie mags for decades. Latest book Shop Talk: Poems For Shop Workers is out now, published by Penniless Press. My star sign is Libido. Hobbies include bombing, looting and colouring in.”
PETER TINKLER – ‘BECOMING’
Peter is an illustrator, fine artist, and art tutor, born in Ireland, who currently lives and works in Birmingham. His has provided book illustrations for The Iceni Daughter (Shye Publishing), Maligned Species: Nettles (Fairacre Press), seven pen & ink illustrations for the prose poem book The Old Man in the House of Bone (V-Press Publishing), along with illustrations for the collaborative projects Being Here (St Giles Hospice Publishing) and Through the Woods (Fairacre Press). Peter has been involved in many exhibitions over the last few years, which have included Urban Life at the Daniel Libeskind Space, London, and Young Artists of the Year, The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle. He currently runs his own art courses in Birmingham, which focus primarily on oil painting and drawing techniques. He has a website, an art blog and can be found on Facebook.
DENNI TURP – ‘AL FRESCO’
Denni Turp lives in north Wales with the latest of her two rescue dogs, though she also likes trees and owls as well as books, music, art and poetry. She is a graduate and post-graduate of the University of Wales, Bangor. She writes mostly in English, though sometimes other languages, especially Welsh, appear in her poetry, and her poems have been published in a number of magazines and webzines as well as the occasional anthology.
ALAN VAN WIJGERDEN – ‘THE MALVERNS’
Alan Van Wijgerden has an MA in Design and Digital Media, and has been writing for around forty years; mostly for moving image projects, although he has written for BBC Radio Four drama. This was an interesting experience featuring an actor from Doctor Who and an Archers radio producer. His background is mainly in video art. He has a YouTube channel, and you can Google the name for full details.
AMELIA WAIZ – ‘JADE BEE’
I am a Canadian-born artist currently living in Leamington Spa. I first moved to England in 2012 to complete a master’s degree at the University of Warwick. Growing up in rural British Columbia with a nature-orientated family, I have always been inspired by nature and wild things. ‘Jade Bee’ is a lino print.
JAMILA WALKER – ‘PLASTIC BAG – NAH’
Jamila Walker is a Midlands-based artist whose practice uses found objects and demonstrates a fascination with minutiae of the everyday. Implied self determined narratives, wit and humour suggest her ambivalent feelings toward her chosen subjects. Jamila creates candid work, from a vibrant palette of ideas, using various textures and colour. Digital manipulation and mixed media enable her to construct visual worlds and characters. Jamila’s use of photography is an opportunity to challenge the classic theory that “the camera never lies” – for Jamila, “the camera always lies”. In addition to being an exhibiting Artist, Jamila is also involved in Community Arts, commissions, and is a member of various creative collectives, including; Here Here and Elixir Arts. Jamila was an Arts for Health mentor for Telford Mind and has been invited to give artist talks at various galleries. She has undertaken various artist residencies and had various creative roles within the heritage sector. Additionally, Jamila has undertaken web layout and image design for Participate Contemporary Artspace. You can follow Jamila’s work on her website.
ROB WALTON – ‘BANANAS’
Rob Walton grew up in Scunthorpe, and now lives in Whitley Bay. His flash fictions have appeared in Blue Fifth Review, 101 words (US), Flash Frontier (NZ), Love Bites (Dostoyevsky Wannabe), Port (Dunlin Press), Flash, I love You! (Paper Swans), Story Cities (Arachne Press), Ham, Ink, Sweat & Tears, The Cabinet of Heed, Number Eleven, National Flash Fiction Day anthologies, Bangor Literary Journal, Northern Voices, Popshot, Pygmy Giant, Reflex, Spelk, Words for the Wild and others. He collated the text for the New Hartley Memorial Pathway. He is a judge of the UK’s National Flash Fiction Day micro-fiction competition.
OLIVIA WALWYN – ‘TEA AT TEGG’S NOSE’
Olivia Walwyn has a pamphlet, En Route (2018), and a first collection, Halcyon (2019) published by Templar Poetry. She enjoys spending time outdoors and her writing often reflects environmental concerns and interests.
JOHN WATSON – ‘COMPOSTELLA’
John is a local writer who has lived in and around Coventry for these last fifty years. He has extensively explored the main island of his birth, which he dearly loves. He has started to explore the outer islands of the archipelago, which are proving to be even more fascinating. John has an allotment plot near the river Inchbrooke, one of the Sowes greater tributaries. He grows Blueberries, Raspberries, Kale, Elephant garlic, Onion, Squash, Tomato, Courgette and many flowers for home. He is a volunteer at the Treehouse bookshop in Kenilworth, where he helps to organise PGR (Pure & Good & Right) open mic poetry, Treehouse sessions and Kenilworth Arts Festival. Love and Peace.
JOE WILLIAMS – ‘ROYAL VISIT TO HEADINGLEY STADIUM’
HANNAH WOOD – ‘THE SAPLING’
“I am a graduate of Coventry University, where I studied English and Creative Writing. Now, I drink copious amounts of bubble tea and have occasional breakdowns at work, like any real adult. Every now and then, I’ll remember to actually write something. 🙂 ”
EMILY WOODRUFF – ‘GRASS ON THE PITCH: SUBSTITUTION’
“My work looks at how our bodies interact with each other and the world around us to shape our sense of self. It explores the reality of our anatomical experiences and deconstructs the performance of the body. ‘Grass on the Pitch’ is a series of 10 performance art photos. The piece deals with attitudes to the post-pubescent human form and the contradictory messages we sometimes hear about body hair. While it is seen to signify sexual maturity, its removal is frequently encouraged and its presence reviled. ‘Grass on the Pitch’ examines the roots of why body hair is not only sanctioned but actively prescribed in some areas of the body, and not in others.”
The full collection of 10 can be viewed here for context.
ALESSIO ZANELLI – ‘KYOTO’
Alessio Zanelli is an Italian poet who writes in English and whose work has appeared in over 150 literary journals from 15 countries. His fifth original collection, titled The Secret Of Archery, was published in 2019 by Greenwich Exchange (London). For more information please visit his website.