Mslexia

"Finding women speaking for themselves in the archive can be rare. The world we live in has frequently determined that these records are not valuable enough to keep, or has placed barriers to their recording in the first place... Fiction gives us the power to invent, to shape stories that speak to an emotional truth. For me, this is the most important part of using archives to inspire writing in an ethical way." You can read the second edition of my column on using archival records to inspire fiction writing in Mslexia. In this issue, I cover the complicated and fascinating question of how to engage ethically with facts when writing fiction.

So happy to see my poem "Osprey" roosting in Mslexia 109 as one of the finalists in this year's competition, huge thanks to judge Liz Berry for her generous comments, and for understanding it's a vignette of sandwich generation life. I wrote it responding to a Glyn Maxwell prompt to the The Poetry School fsm where we each drew two of Jaak Panksepp's primal emotions at random: this came of Seeking and Grief.

Mslexia Feature: Step Into My Flow — Poetry, Documentary, and the Journey of Creation 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗮. 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 ‘𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗜𝘁’ 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲. 𝗠𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 — 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. (- Mslexia) https://mslexia.co.uk/   𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗬 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗪, 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 @𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 @𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮.𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁, 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗿 & 𝗙𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻. 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 / Arts Council England — 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁. #happy #happywriter #healingpoems #powerofnow #filmmaker #writer Photos by M. Littlewood 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 @𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 https://lnkd.in/ewhRMgf8 𝗮𝗻𝗱 @𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗺𝘆𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲! https://lnkd.in/eVPCxPDN     𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝘆 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀, 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝗨𝗞 https://lnkd.in/em97Vine , 𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺  https://www.i4visuals.com/. 😀

Cover story! The Winter edition of Mslexia Magazine is out and I’m delighted (and a little daunted) to have the lead article, 'Agenda: Will writers be replaced by AI?' I spent weeks digging into how AI is transforming the writing world. The findings were not exactly cheerful: copyright battles, dubious data, dystopian predictions and a sense that everything is changing at once. Yet writers have always created in uncertain times. We can't wait to see what happens, it's important we engage now - to pay attention, participate and keep going with our messy, imperfect human projects. And explore if and how it can help us. I spoke to writers, agents, publishers about their experience. As I write in the closing section: "We no longer need to engage in the uncomfortable, messy and slow process of struggling with our writing. But the difficulty of writing isn't a productivity problem and Al isn't the solution. We have a choice in how we use these tools, if indeed we use them at all. "We might be tempted to let Al do the work for us, but that decision robs us of something fundamental and deeply human. The creative process is full of friction and uncertainty, but that's what leads to genuine insight and originality in the work we produce." Grateful to Mslexia for inviting me to explore such a knotty and urgent topic and for the stunning illustrations throughout. #amwriting #writingcommunity #ai

A major opportunity for emerging women poets. Mslexia has opened submissions for its annual Women’s Pamphlet Competition, one of the most respected platforms for unpublished poets aiming to break into the literary world. Women writers from any country—including those under 18—are invited to submit a cohesive 18–20 poem pamphlet (20–24 pages) for a chance to win £500, secure publication with Bloodaxe Books, and be featured in Mslexia magazine. This competition is ideal for emerging poets seeking creative writing opportunities, poetry publishing pathways, and international poetry competitions that elevate new voices. 📝 Deadline: 8 December 2025 📚 Eligibility: Women who have not previously published a full-length collection 🚫 Note: Translations + generative AI are not accepted If you're a woman poet looking for your breakthrough moment, this could be career-defining. For more creative funding opportunities like this, sign up to Creare Capital today 👉 https://lnkd.in/dpH-SG8A #PoetryCompetition #WomenWriters #CreativeWriting #PoetryOpportunities #PublishingOpportunity