Author Archives: Clare Spencer

Uncovering a hidden history – Nessa O’Mahony’s new poetry collection

For much of my life, I had absolutely no idea that my grandfather, Michael McCann, had fought in the First World War. I grew up with the image of him as the archetypal Irish nationalist hero of the first decades … Continue reading

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Joanna Ezekiel’s novel is published

My novel, The Inside-Out House is published in September 2014 by Indigo Dreams. Set in 1994, the main character is a fourteen-year-old girl, Sam Green, who moves from the lively seaside town of Seamead to the suburb of Rowham with her … Continue reading

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Hannah Vincent’s debut novel is published

I am pleased to announce that my debut novel Alarm Girl is published in August 2014.  The novel is set in South Africa and is partly narrated by eleven-year old Indy, who is visiting her father there for the first … Continue reading

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Shanta Everington wins young adult novel competition

My latest book is young adult dystopian novel, XY, launched at Manchester Children’s Book Festival in June 2014, after jointly winning the Red Telephone Books YA Novel Competition run by Manchester-based small press, Bridge House Publishing.  The novel follows the … Continue reading

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Kevan Manwaring – Desiring Dragons

Kevan Manwaring’s latest book Desiring Dragons: Creativity, Imagination and the Writer’s Quest was published by Compass books in May this year.  Unlike Kevan’s recent collections of folk tales, Desiring Dragons is described – somewhat tongue-in-cheek – in its preface as a ‘How to … Continue reading

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Ink Pantry interview with Mike Johnson on visual poetry

An interview with Mike Johnson, on the subject of visual poetry, was published in the Ink Pantry blog on 14 June 2014.  Ink Pantry Publishing was founded by a group of former students ‘whose paths crossed while studying Creative Writing … Continue reading

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Joanna Barnden’s novel trilogy to be published by Pan Macmillan

After years of trying, Joanna Barnden, tutor on A215 and A363 has just signed a deal with Pan Macmillan for the publication of her trilogy The Queens of the Conquest under the pen name of Joanna Courtney. The first book, … Continue reading

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Heavenly Bodies – a constellation of poetry

During the first three weeks of 2014, eighty eight poets around the world started writing a poem – some were veterans with several collections to their name, some only at the start of their careers, some were writing with English … Continue reading

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Romy Thomas wins flash fiction mini-competition

Romy Thomas’s short story ‘Wings’ is the joint winner of the recent Cinnamon Press mini-competition – based on the theme of ‘changes’. The competition judges described Romy’s story as follows: ‘Romyanna Thomas’s piece is a succinct and powerful narrative; from its … Continue reading

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Debut poetry chapbook from Shanta Everington

Shanta Everington’s debut poetry chapbook, Drowning in Cherryade, is published this month by US-based independent publisher, bedouin books, (http://www.bedouinbooks.com) after winning their annual poetry chapbook competition. Editor Michael D’Alessandro says, ‘Drowning in Cherryade conjures candy-colored scenes of youth mirrored in … Continue reading

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