Rosy Adams

Rosy Adams Rosy Adams grew up in the Bannau Brycheiniog where she spent most of her time in the library or up the mountain. Her writing has been published by The Lampeter Review, Grim & Gilded, Lucent Dreaming, and The Amphibian amongst others, and she edited and contributed to (un)common: anthology of new Welsh writing published by Lucent Dreaming. She is inspired by myth and fairy tale, and is currently working on a short story collection. (Un)common: Anthology of new Welsh Writing In this anthology, we tread the common ground of “not having”. But our lives are very different and each of our voices spins a different tale. Read on, and you will discover (un)common worlds. There are dragons, cloud-circling and deep-dwelling. Characters travel by bus and by train. They walk, run or even fly, through the pin-drop silence of libraries, through moon-frosted streets and winter-chilled parks, farms, houses, shops, cafés, and possibly the grottiest pub in existence. Family ties are important, and not always the ones you’re born with. Transformation can liberate but also imprison us. We encounter isolation, addiction, tragedy and grief, but we also find love, connection, and hope.

Jonah Jones

Jonah Jones Jonah Jones lives in Llantwit Major and has several short stories and poems published in various anthologies and magazines, together with stage and radio scripts produced and broadcast. He also writes and directs short films.

Rebecca Elizabeth Roberts

Rebecca Elizabeth Roberts Rebecca Roberts is a writer and translator from Prestatyn in north Wales. The author of ten novels (published by Gomer@Lolfa, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch and Honno), she writes in both English and Welsh. Her first YA novel, #helynt, won the 2021 Tir na n-Og Award and 2021 Children and Young Person’s Book of the Year award. Mudferwi Merch dawel a swil yw Alys, sy’n ddigon hapus yn gweithio yng nghegin ysgol y pentref… hynny yw, nes i’r gegin honno gau. Penderfyna wneud cais am swydd mewn bwyty lleol sydd newydd gael ei brynu gan gogydd teledu enwog – cogydd sydd ddim yn hoffi’r syniad o ferched yn gweithio yn ei gegin. Eat. Sleep. Rage. Repeat When Caitlin Bennet returns to her old school as a new teacher, she is determined to turn the lives of her students around. Disruptive classes – no problem. An unsupportive head teacher – fine. Then, she finds herself accused of a crime which could end her teaching career. She sets out to clear her name, but to do so she must revisit the hellish past she has tried so hard to escape. #Helynt ENILLYDD GWOBR TIR NA N-OG 2021 & CHATEGORI PLANT A PHOBL IFANC LLYFR Y FLWYDDYN 2021 Mae colli’r bws i’r ysgol yn gallu newid dy fywyd di … Penderfyna Rachel fynd ar antur yn nhre’r Rhyl yn hytrach na mynd adref, gan ganfod ei hun mewn clwb nos ar lan y môr. Yn y clwb nos mae hi’n cyfarfod â Shane, dyn golygus, llawn dirgelwch sy’n gwybod rhywbeth am ei gorffennol … cyfrinach allai chwalu ei theulu. Ond mae Rachel yn awchu i gael y gwirionedd ganddo …

Catrin Lawrence

Catrin Lawrence Catrin Lawrence is a writer of the strange, fantastical, and morbid. Her short fiction has been published by Gwyllion Magazine, and appeared in anthologies by Black Hare Press and Parthian Books. Gwyllion Language: Bilingual English and Welsh (1 Welsh flash fiction with an accompanying English translation, 8 English short stories) Cheval 12 A poet watches a fox in her garden. A fruit seller is confronted by the Terrible Tunisian Tigress. An office worker longs to escape the confines of his desk job. For twelve years the Terry Hetherington Young Writers Award has provided a platform for emerging young writers from and living in Wales. In this year’s edition of Cheval, we celebrate the very best stories and poems which were entered into the latest award.

Guinevere Clark

Guinevere Clark Guinevere Clark holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Swansea University, on the poetics of motherhood, sexuality, and place, exploring liminal spaces, gender inequality and the mother-child relationship. She teaches poetry at Swansea’s Taliesin Arts Centre. Recent award short listings are: The Wales Poetry Award, Poetry London, Hammond House, Cinnamon Press, and a longlisting in The Nature Chronicles Prize. She’s published widely: Poetry Wales, Atlanta Review, Magma, Minerva Rising and Demeter Press. She leads Poetry Into Light, an enterprise that celebrates and empowers community through poetry. Her first collection is Fresh Fruit & Screams (Bluechrome, 2006). Fresh Fruit and Screams Fresh Fruit and Screams is a vivid collection of poetry travelling through sexual highs and lows, club culture, urban depression and spiritual awakening. Guinevere even attempts to re-write a few hard and fast tales, broaches contemporary politics and offers heart felt comment on the world’s conflict. There’s a definite Mother Earth feel to her work. She reveres the natural world exploring stunning seascapes, magical forests and megalithic monuments. There is humour in Guinevere’s poetry as well as deep metaphysics. Her work ranges from autobiographical to pure fantasy, or is it? She writes with awe, passion and emotional intelligence. Fresh Fruit and Screams is a cornucopia of rare and engaging poetry which seems to touch on all things important. Here is a new and exciting voice to contemporary poetry

Barbara Hughes-Moore

Barbara Hughes-Moore Barbara Hughes-Moore is a writer and law lecturer from Cardiff. Her research, teaching, and creative writing is concerned with the Gothic, haunted by ghosts and the specters of lives, and loves, unled. Her short stories have been published by Horror Scribes, Roath Writers and The Folks.

Charly White

Charly White Charly White is a poet, author and musician from Wales. Her writing focuses on mindfulness, nature, and well-being. She released her first poetry book: A Collection of Wildflowers (Arkbound UK) in March 2024. Her poems are featured in the anthology Mental Health and Poetry for Mental Health (Robin Barratt), the online literary journal Poemstellium, and the literary magazine Coffee People Zine. You can follow her journey @the.poetrygarden on instagram. ‘A Collection of Wildflowers’ by Charly White A Collection of Wildflowers is an eccentric amalgamation of poems, thoughts, questions and simple words written during the authors expeditions around the world. From Welsh mountains, Parisian cafés, temples in Thailand and train journeys in Canada, these words offer the reader a sanctuary to escape the constantly shifting world and to connect with nature, their own mind and the people around them. This collection of poetry invites the reader to join the author in her journey to acknowledge every experience, however mundane, every emotion, however raw, and the undeniable beauty that exists both within us and within nature. MENTAL HEALTH It is undeniable that putting thoughts, feelings and emotions into words, on paper, either with poetry or in a short story format, can be both therapeutic and an incredibly effective method of self-help and healing. In this brave and uncompromising collection, 99 writers and poets around the world explore the themes of mental health, either from their own personal perspectives and experiences, or from the experiences of friends, family and people close by. Covering a broad range of mental health issues, an anthology on this subject is undoubtedly thought-provoking and emotional, but also positive and uplifting too as, for many, putting their feelings into words has set many on the road to creativity, healing and ultimately recovery.

M. R. Smith

M. R. Smith M.R.Smith is a poet and fiction writer from South Wales. Her work has been published in Zines’ such as Myth & Lore Zine and themed Zines from Coin Operated Press. M.R.Smith loves writing about her relationship with nature and adores all things folklore. She hopes to publish her first chapbook of poetry this year.

Angela Arnold

Angela Arnold Angela Arnold’s poetry has been published widely in print magazines as well as online, in the UK and elsewhere. Her poems have also been included in anthologies produced by Templar, Frogmore Press, Eyewear, Arachne Press and others, including the The Best of new British and Irish Poets 2019-2021. First collection In|Between , about ‘inner landscapes’ and relationships (Stairwell Books, 2023). She is also an artist, a creative gardener and an environmental campaigner who lives in North Wales. She enjoys her synaesthesia and language/s and is currently learning Welsh. Byways Byways, an anthology of stories and poems from across the UK and elsewhere, exploring the urban shortcuts, well-trodden meanders, ancient pathways, hillside and field paths. The public and the secret ways that take us away from the crowds and out of our vehicles. Mainly in English but including a handful of poems in Welsh (with translation), join us off the beaten track. Arachne Press has a track record (pun intended) of publishing what academics call psychogeography, but we call well-routed. We also have history with climate concern. We combine the two here, offering drama and solace from experiencing the world at the slow pace of a walk, whether the short cut to the chippy, or an all day hike in the hills. In|Between In|Between examines the wide variety of our ‘inner landscapes’ and, following on from that, our complex relationships

Elizabeth Lockwood

Elizabeth Lockwood Elizabeth Lockwood is a writer interested in the duality of life. Of how happiness and sadness coexist and how grief informs and changes our realities. She has written three collections of poetry, studied English Literature for seven years, is a mother of five, and lives by the sea in Carmarthenshire. Waves of Stardust We walked down to the sea front To mark an anniversary We let the rain drops wash our faces Like God weeping over the memorial Writing the letters of your name In the slightly wet sand So that even when it seems the world cannot recollect We know the sea will never forget Like us, it holds on, inhales the letters And it breathes your memory Out, with the break of a wave Sending the sparks of your life Everywhere Waves of Stardust tells the story of Elizabeth Lockwood’s fourth child, who died shortly after birth, and the grief that followed. Poems of love, loss, life and hope, this collection offers a glimpse at raw, early grief. Rain and Leaves I can’t write anymore about rain Because nobody wants to see it Nobody wants to hear the pitter patter The drumming, the splash Nobody wants it to ruin their day Turning the white clouds grey Nobody wants to see the windows obscured by drips and drops Nobody wants to go outside and get soaked through And huff and puff at the inconvenience So I can’t write about rain anymore Because I’ll ruin everybody’s day Rain and Leaves is Elizabeth Lockwood’s second book of poetry and illustrations. Her first book of poetry, Waves of Stardust, and her memoir, Little Something, are also available. Ghosts of the Water Walking through the woods With a hand poised to grasp Pulling all the green off all the trees Storing in palms for later For when the fresh air has been left behind Where the walls are up, doors locked, windows shut Where the taps have been left on And the water is rising, not just like the tide Ankle deep, making its way to calf level We will sink like stones Joining the ghosts at the bottom While the water keeps flowing Only the green will float Ghosts of the Water is Elizabeth Lockwood’s third book of poetry and illustrations. Her first two books of poetry, Waves of Stardust and Rain and Leaves, and her memoir, Little Something, are also available.