Here are some books my work has been published in:
100 Voices – Edited by Miranda Roszkowski (Unbound – March, 2022)
100 Voices is a collection of stories by women writers about finding their voice. It started out as a podcast commemorating the centenary of women’s voting rights in the UK, and is now being published by Unbound. It includes contributions by award winning writers like Yvonne Battle-Felton, Sabrina Mahfouz and has a foreword by Deborah Frances-White of the Guilty Feminist. My story, ‘Half Smiling’, is about writing, optimism and Bell’s Palsy.
Dragons of the Prime: Poems about Dinosaurs – Edited by Richard O’Brien (The Emma Press – April 2019)
My poem ‘Ornithocheirus – Giant of the Skies’ was inspired by the BBC’s Walking With Dinosaurs Episode 4, ‘Giant of the Skies’, which featured an Ornithocheirus at the end of his life. I watched Walking With Dinosaurs a lot with my son when he was younger, and the tragic line “the Ornithocheirus has lost his majesty” always made us cry. He also requested an Ornithocheirus cake for his 5th birthday party.
Mechanics’ Institute Review 14 (Birkbeck – September 2017)
I was one of the editors of the 14th Mechanics’ Institute Review featuring Jenn Ashworth and Alan Beard, with a foreword by Julia Bell.
Watermarks: Writing by Lido Lovers & Wild Swimmers An anthology of exceptional new prose and poetry to celebrate the life aquatic – Edited by Tanya Shadrick & Rachel Playforth (Frogmore Press – June 2017)
I was very pleased that my life writing piece ‘Sundays at Rachel Finlayson’ was been selected for this anthology. It is based on my experiences swimming at a saltwater lido on Durban beachfront and undertaking the Midmar Mile for the first time.
The Casual Electrocution of Strangers (The Literary Salmon – November 2015)
I was commissioned (together with eleven other writers) by Fran, Jane and Bernie, who I met through Word Factory, to write a short story with the title ‘The Casual Electrocution of Strangers’. Read more about my specific process here. And here’s me reading an excerpt from The Casual Electrocution of Strangers at Word Factory in December 2015.
The Mechanics’ Insitute Review 12 (Birkbeck – September 2015)
My short story ‘The Window’ was selected for MIR12. It is about an unpleasant woman who accidentally performs a heroic act and then has to deal with the consequences. This edition also features stories from
The Mechanics’ Institute Review 11 (Birkbeck – September 2014)
My short story ‘Our First Lesbians’ was selected for publication in this anthology of new writing from the Birkbeck Creative Writing Programme. The book also features writing by Hari Kunzru, Alex Preston and Julia Bell.
44 Square: Fiction (Birkbeck – June 2014)
I was the Editor of this anthology of new fiction from the Birkbeck BA Creative Writing Programme. You can read more about the process here.
Forty-Five Square: Poetry (Birkbeck – June 2014)
Four of my poems: ‘Sagrada Familia’, ‘Portrait of a Moroccan Traveller’, ‘What’s in a Name’ and ‘Essaouira’, were selected for publication in this poetry journal from the Birkbeck BA Creative Writing Programme. You can read them here.
46 Square: Living Tales (Birkbeck – June 2014)
My short story ‘The Birthday Cake’ was published in this anthology of new voices in Creative Non-Fiction from the Birkbeck BA Creative Writing Programme. I read an excerpt from this story at the launch event on the 4th of June 2014 as well as live on Nick Hennegan’s ‘Literary London‘ show on Resonance 104.4 FM on the 25th of July 2014. You can listen to the story here at -07:00.
Even Birds are Chained to the Sky & Other Tales (The Fine Line – October 2011)
My short story ‘Ear’ was a runner up in the Fine Line Short Story Competition and was published in a competition anthology by The Fine Line. This piece was the second short story I’d ever written and was inspired by an errant thought on my way to a creative writing class one night: imagine licking someone’s ear on the tube. Don’t worry – I’ve never actually tried it.
Wooing Mr Wickham – Edited by Michele Roberts (Honno Press – November 2011)
My short story ‘Empty Hands’ was a finalist in the Jane Austen Short Story Award organised by Chawton House Library. It was about a woman with Alzheimers who believes she is Elizabeth Bennet. This was the first piece of writing I ever had accepted for publication, and it seemed appropriate as I have always been a Jane Austen fan. The winners and finalists were published by Honno Press in an Anthology called Wooing Mr Wickham. Read a short excerpt of the story here.
Nine PM Writer 