I was delighted to hear that my short story, ‘Homing‘ was shortlisted for the White Review Short Story Prize 2019. There are some brilliant stories shortlisted, and they are all available to read online so do check them out. ‘Homing’ is part of a new short story collection I am working on, so watch this …
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Listen, I have heard many old tales…
Last week, I was lucky enough to visit the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition at the British Library, curated by Claire Breay. I was invited to see the exhibition, along with two other fabulous Sheffield poets (Joe Kriss and Otis Mensah) as part of the British Library/ Poet in the City commission. The idea of the project …
Poetry, parenting and Nigeria
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been doing some work at the Hull History Centre, trying to track down a Nigerian poet, Minji Ateli (neé Karibo) who was at the University of Ibadan in the 1960s. Karibo contributed several poems to The Horn, a Nigerian student poetry magazine edited by J.P. Clark and modelled on Poetry and Audience (Leeds). Karibo’s …
Crafts of World Literature at the ASAUK
The African Studies Association UK biennial conference took place at the University of Birmingham, 11-13 September. Jarad Zimbler and I ran a stream called “African Literature: Communities, Collaborations, Crafts & Crossings”. The aim of this stream was to consider the ways in which literary works and their authors have moved within, across, into and out …
Launch of Moon Milk
My new poetry pamphlet, Moon Milk, is now available to buy. We launched the book on a lovely sunny morning in Sheffield at Haggler’s Corner last week. Moon Milk was listed as one of the Yorkshire Post’s ‘Top 5 Pick of the Best Books’ last week, and on Friday, I chatted to Rony Robinson at …
Book Launch: Moon Milk
Come and join us next Thursday morning (19th July) at Hagglers Corner for the baby-friendly launch of Moon Milk – my new pamphlet published by Valley Press. There will also be a guest reading from the wonderful poet Kate Garrett-Nield. We’ll be in the beautiful courtyard at Haggler’s if the weather is nice! Come and try some …
New Poem: Foaling
‘Foaling‘, from my forthcoming Valley Press pamphlet (Moon Milk), was published today by And Other Poems. Head over to And Other Poems to read the full poem, to sign up for their Friday Poems or to browse their archives of excellent poetry.
Pre-order ‘Moon Milk’
I’m excited that my new poetry pamphlet, ‘Moon Milk’ is now available to pre-order with Valley Press! The poems seek to explore the complex, and often hidden, experiences of pregnancy, birth and early childhood. More details about the launch to follow. ‘Moon Milk blew me away. I love the mythologizing, the variety of form, the …
Review: What is a World?
This is the proof of my review of Pheng Cheah’s What is a World?, recently published in a special issue of Seminar (54.2. Pheng Cheah’s What is a World? argues for the “world-making” power of literature. Taking on the might of recent debates in world literature, Cheah argues that literature has the capacity to redefine (rather than …
Poem: Postnatal Ward
I was delighted to hear that my poem, ‘Postnatal Ward’ was awarded fourth prize last weekend in the York Literature Festival Poetry Prize 2018, judged by Andrew McMillan. Hannah Copley’s brilliant poem, ‘Haworth 1855’, won a well-deserved first prize in the competition. All of the winning and commended poems have now been published on the …
Review: Vahni Capildeo
This is the proof of my review of Vahni Capildeo’s Measure of Expatriation, published in the most recent issue of Stand Magazine 216, (Vol. 15.4, 2018) Capildeo, Vahni. Measures of Expatriation. Manchester: Carcanet, 2016. ISBN: 978 1 784101 68 8 128pp This stunning collection by Vahni Capildeo has been rightly celebrated for its complex exploration of migration, exile, …
Rachel Bower 