news blog

The Spring '24 edition 'In flight' from Black Bough is now ready for print. It has been a pleasure picking the poems and guest editing this edition, the call out was via #toptweettuesday, and Black Bough online open mic events, mid last year.

The title of the anthology came from the cover artist Emma Connolly and the series the cover image was chosen from.

'Guest edited by Welsh writer Marcelle Newbold, featuring illustrations by Emma Connolly and poems by Gillian Clarke, Mark Antony Owen, Sarah Connor and Saraswati Nagpal, and a whole host of stellar talents, Black Bough Poetry's imagist poetry edition 'In flight' features stunningly nuanced, vivid poems.'

'In flight' will be released on Sunday 14th April via Amazon. 

On Saturday 2 March the inaugural Cambrian Mountains Society poetry competition prize giving took place at Pontrhydfendigaid. I read my poem 'Day trip to the mountains', which was highly commended. 

Over the past couple of months I have been working on editing a competition anthology for the Society, which includes background to the prize, judges comments and of course the winning, highly commended and longlist poems. Cover illustration by the talented Lowri Bowden. The anthology is pocket size and available to purchase from cambrian-mountains.co.uk.

It was a lovely afternoon, and wonderful to hear poems in English and Welsh, and lively discussion about poetry in Wales. 

It’s been a real delight to be part of the Nightingale & Sparrow team for the last couple of years. As of the end of 2023 I will be stepped down from the managing editor role. It has been a privilege to read the poetry submissions, as well as manage the team, correspond with submitees, and oversee production. Wishing the best of luck to Juliette and the team, when they come back after their hiatus.

I'm very excited that I will be the guest editor for Black Bough Poetry's next edition, there was a one day submission window, on Tuesday 4th July. Entry was by tweeting one brand new imagistic poem, 20 lines max. to @toptweettuesday and @marcellenewbold on Twitter. Poems are unpublished but could be a previous @TopTweetTuesday  poem. 

The edition will include an invited guest poet, and also poems from Black Bough's open mic attendees, launch date early Spring 2024.  

The talented Emma Connolly, a Cardiff based artist, will be providing the cover art, and the title of the edition, which I can't wait to share.

Its here, our Spring 2023 edition, 'Sakura'. This issue is extra special as we are publishing sisters, who were both anonymously accepted for the issue, one for fiction and one for visual art.

Nightingale & Sparrow, Issue XVI – starlight is now available on line, and in print via Amazon. Cover by Rachel Coyne. A note from EIC Juliette Sebock:

‘In our call for submissions, we prompted submitters with the following: “What do you see when you look up at the night sky? From astrology and lullabies to planetariums and Taylor Swift lyrics, we want to see your poems, stories, essays, and art that come face-to-face with the cosmos. Give us space; give us skies; give us starlight.’

Nightingale & Sparrow, Issue XIV – poetry is now available on line, and in print via Amazon. Cover by Karen Pierce Gonzalez. A note from EIC Juliette Sebock:

‘This quarterly theme is one that holds a special place in my heart. Poetry is where I got my own start in the literary world (feel free to check out Mistakes Were Made at your favourite bookseller for a trip in that Delorean). Poetry is the form I turn to when life is at its darkest and at its brightest.’

I was delighted when Eli Horan, EIC of Animal Press invited me to be the inaugural guest editor for Feral: a Journal of Poetry and Art. I have known the Animal Heart Press family since I was published in their 'From the Ashes: An International Anthology of Womxn’s Poetry back in 2019'. Since then, I have seen them grow with the birth of Femme Salve Books, and of course Feral: A Journal of Poetry and Art, with interest and affection. 

The call out for Issue 13, themed around ‘hunger’, attracted a diverse, and at times intense response, from poets and artists. The selected pieces interpret the consuming desire of need unfulfilled – hunger that spans addiction, love, mental health, poverty, grief, and unwitting inheritance. These universal themes, and the want for connection, are shown apparent in the human, and natural world.

The team received hundreds of submissions; issue 13, which is now available online, https://feralpoetry.net/issue-thirteen-the-hunger-issue/ contains work from 48 contributors – from the United Kingdom, Australia, Philippines, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, the United States, and elsewhere.

My thanks go to Amanda McLoed and Narmadhaa Sivaraja for their close readings. Amanda, once again, pairing the art and written contributions with fantastic insight.
In editing this beautiful issue, it has once again been a privilege to be a small part of this fierce, gracious press.

The 'Hunger ' themed issue of Feral: a Journal of Poetry and Art is now available online, print issue coming mid July.  https://feralpoetry.net/issue-thirteen-the-hunger-issue/

The last couple of months have been enlightening and enjoyable compiling the Gloucester Poetry Festival, which runs online for the month of October 2021. This is my first year as festival coordinator working with Director Z.D. Dicks. The programme is now finalised and free tickets are available from www.gloucesterpoetryfestival.uk.  There are 13 event from publishers and individual poets, as well as open mic slots. 

I’m delighted to be recently appointed as Editor of Rare Swan Press  and its companion Literati Magazine, a Swiss based venture run by the talented Renee Sigel. We have a number of fabulous poets and writers lined up for publication in late 2021 and 2022. The manuscripts I have read so far have been exceptional. Looking forward to diving further in! 

Update March 2022 – this appointment term has now ended, best of luck to Renee and the team, and wishing Rare Swan Press every success.

Issue XI now available online via the website or in print from Amazon. EIC Juliette Sebock’s issue note:

‘Nightingale & Sparrow Literary Magazine is proud to present their eleventh issue, growth. This volume features the poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, and photography of dozens of amazing creators from around the world, as well as—for the first time—other forms of visual art. For this themed issue, Nightingale & Sparrow told submitters, “We aren’t only looking for notes on flora. From children growing up to emotional growth, we want to see your interpretations of this term in its many forms.” ‘

Amantine and I have been working on her gathered poems collection for a couple of months, and I’m delighted to hear her publisher Book Hub Publishing are in the final stages of production. Print copies are officially ‘coming soon’. Working as Amantine’s editor has been such a joyful experience – learning about her drivers, expansive life experiences, and many hours of poetic discussions. I really can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

Issue X ‘Harmony’ from Nightingale & Sparrow is now available online from the website, or in print from Amazon. EIC issue note:

‘For this submissions period, we asked writers and photographers to “surprise us with your own unique harmonies. Share the songs that intersperse your life. Show us the places where discord unites. Let us hear the chords in each image and every line.” As always, our wonderful contributors have brought that vision to life.’

It’s been a busy month, and I’m delighted to say that Juliette (N&S EIC) has asked if I would be willing to take on the role of Managing Editor for the Press, which I was delighted to accept.

I’ve been poetry editor for N&S since Jan 2020 and have seen the Press grow to now 15 volunteers covering editorial, social media and production. Our quarterly magazine – which publishes poetry, cnf, fiction, photography as well as visual art is available as a free online version, via nightingaleandsparrow.com or in print from Amazon.

The team is entirely remote so we utilise airtable, clickup, trello, wiki, and google drive to keep us organised! We have staff members in USA, India, the UK and Europe.

Issue IX ‘Blizzard’ from Nightingale & Sparrow is now available online from the website, or in print from Amazon. EIC issue note:

‘As I write this introduction to blizzard, I’m sipping a mug of hot, black coffee and gazing out the window at another interpretation of our theme. “The February 2021 nor’easter” already has its own Wikipedia page! The nearby woodland (hearkening back to our November 2020 issue!), having long since lost its leaves, is coated in a thick layer of white and ice. Watching the breeze blow snowdust through the air, I can’t help but think of the photos and written work that make up this Nightingale & Sparrow blizzard. 
With blizzard, we aimed to showcase the unique facets of every snowflake and the dichotomies present in every storm. As we make our way through the early proofs of the issue, I believe we’ve done just that.’

Nightingale and Sparrow’s Issue VIII – Woodland is now ready to order for doorstep delivery or to read online. Extract from Juliette’s introduction: 

‘You’ll travel through the woods of the world with each page, and even enter other literary worlds – beyond a certain wardrobe door – through the pieces included in our eighth issue.’

The hardback Pandemic Poetry anthology is now out in world. I’m so pleased that my poem ‘Looking for Dad’ has been included. Proceeds from the sales go to NHS charities and frontline workers PPE. The anthology, which features over 70 poets can be ordered here.  

And we are at the printers! Charlie Markwick of Yarn Whispering has done a fantastic job of formatting and layout, and alongside artwork, chosen by Ziggy, by Glen Vaudrey and Steve Samsara, and a cover by Jason Conway, we are good to go. 

It has been an enjoyable six months or so, working remotely alongside Ziggy and Charlie:  discussing submissions, editing, section arrangements, proofs, and corresponding with the contributors.   

Copies are available to order from the Gloucester Poetry Festival website, raising funds for NHS charities and frontline workers PPE.

The online launch of The Pandemic Poetry Anthology will be on Tuesday 10th November at 7.30pm GMT. We are really excited about this celebratory evening, with lots of poets reading from the anthology. Free tickets can be ordered here, the event is also on Facebook. 

It has been a busy couple of months with the deadline for submissions closing at the end of June for the Pandemic Poetry Anthology.  We had a fantastic response, with over 500 poems submitted for consideration from the UK, USA and elsewhere. It has been quite a task to administer and monitor, but very fulfilling, thank goodness for the joys of airtable!

It has been a privilege to read and comment on all of the poems, alongside Ziggy, and we have now made the final selection, and all poets have been notified. The submission standards were so high, and so heartfelt, it was a shame we could not accept everyone.

Publication due October 2020.  

Nightingale and Sparrow’s Issue VI – Melody is now ready to order for doorstep delivery or to read online.  It was such a joy reading for this issue, although a somewhat illusive brief, we were spoilt for choice with 90 poetry submissions.

I’m delighted that I have recently started working with Nightingale & Sparrow, an online magazine and print publisher, as a Poetry Editor and now appear on their masthead. The multi-talented Juliette Sebock has been incredibly welcoming, and I have already had the opportunity to review some very fine pieces with the global team.   

I have also managed to significantly upgrade my remote working skills, due to this new position, including Airtable, Slack and Trello!

A bit from the ‘about us’ section:

‘Founded in 2019 by Juliette Sebock, Nightingale & Sparrow is a literary magazine and small press featuring poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and photography.

Nightingale and Sparrow aims to soar through written and visual arts. We want to publish work that takes the earthly and makes it ethereal. Send us your deepest thoughts, most poignant memories, and flights of fancy.’

Nightingale and Sparrow’s Issue VII – Schoolhouse is now ready to order for doorstep delivery or to read online. Gorgeous cover to this cathartic issue. Extract from Juliette’s introduction: 

‘This is our shortest issue yet, and yet it’s one of our saddest. Schoolhouse surprised us with the heaviness of its subjects. The circumstances and emotions that come through in these pieces are all too real. From COVID-19 and its effects on education to the horrors of school shootings and other violence, our contributors took the idea of schoolhouse to a far deeper level than we could have imagined when we set the theme over a year ago.’