Fokkina McDonnell

      Aposematism / Honest warning signals 1 I begged my boss to let me do the interview with the fire historian. I have form, I told him. I’ve been close to fires in Brussels, in Sydney, in Manchester. Woke on a Sunday morning to the sound of breaking...

Sue Wallace-Shaddad

      The Pleasure of Fruit I tempt you with morsels of soft-skinned peach, a pear sliced in quarters, pipless and skinless. Your teeth may be failing but your tastebuds savour the sweetness; juice drips down your chin. Sticky fingers once picked...

Lesley Burt

  Lesley Burt has had individual poems published in various journals, including Tears in the Fence, Prole, Dreich, Ink Sweat & Tears and London Grip. My first pamphlet, Mr & Mrs Andrews Reframed, was published by Templar in 2023, and my latest...

Ian Harker

      Hawthorn Joseph Bacon. Aged 24. 5 feet 5 ins. Dark hair. hazel Eyes. dark complex[ion]. Labourer. Born in Derbyshire. Trial of Joseph Bacon & Richard Briggs The Old Bailey, 1790 The first night you lay down your head in London there is...

Julian Bishop

      His Last Picture (After The Martyrdom of St Ursula) In a courtyard off Spacconapoli there’s a Madonelle, outdoor shrine with a pale figurine, withered flowers. He emerges at nightfall, lights a solitary votive candle, prostrates himself at her...