Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Laura Besley

V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 6d

Lots of news -- including Substack and editor news, and a round-up of this year's V. Press Prize for Poetry, reviews, new releases, events and coming soon...
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@laurabesley.bsky.social
@sarahleavesley.bsky.social

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Reposted by Laura Besley

Big Issue @bigissue.com · 12d

Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy centres around her grief and the enduring legacy of her remarkable mother.

Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy review – words of wisdom

www.bigissue.com

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Reposted by Laura Besley

Matt Kendrick @mattkendrick.bsky.social · 18d

"Imagine you’re forty-something and you’re kinda okay about who you are these days and although you never thought you would be"

Wow, a stunner of a one-sentence piece from @laurabesley.bsky.social - love the rhythm and use of reptetition and how it builds from beginning to end

Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 13

I'm absolutely delighted that my piece, 'These days you're kinda okay', has found such a loving home with @lit-namjooning.bsky.social 💜 Many thanks to editors, Hema, Lakshmi & Melissa.
#amwriting #writingcommunity #fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...

These Days You’re Kinda Okay by Laura Besley

Imagine you’re forty-something and you’re kinda okay about who you are these days andalthough you never thought you would be, you are, and decide the reason you’re kinda okaythese days is because you’...

literarynamjooning.wixsite.com

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · 16d

Thanks so much, Matt! 💜

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · 16d

Thanks so much, Alex!

Reposted by Laura Besley

Ultramarine Literary Review @ultramarinelitrev.bsky.social · 29d

You can now check out our Food Poetry subcategory on our page! Find writers like Sreelekha Chatterjee @sreelekha2024.bsky.social under this section 🥘🥮

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 15

It's a single piece in a journal, so it doesn't have a cover as such. This is the image that accompanies the piece.

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 15

Thanks so much, Matt!

Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 15

Hi Matt, I really loved this piece! That blend of reality and non-reality/imaginations works so well. I keep thinking of that everlasting pebble...

Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 14

Thank you, Lisa! 💜

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Alan Parry He/Him @alanparrywriter.co.uk · Sep 14

I’m proud of how political @thebrokenspine.co.uk is. We don’t just “represent” — we think about it. Everyone publishes women. But how do they platform them?

@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social made #NotJustPretty her own. This won’t be mainstream. Who fucking cares? It matters too much to sanitise.

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · Sep 14

#NotJustPretty — we don’t platform women to show them. We publish them to hear them.

Poetry. Art. Defiance.

Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/

@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social

#NotJustPretty: Meet the Artists Leading the Charge - The Broken Spine

On October 4, 2025, we’ll be launching #NotJustPretty — a new series that celebrates artists who identify as women. For us, this project is about refusing to

thebrokenspine.co.uk

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Reposted by Laura Besley

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · Sep 14

#NotJustPretty — we don’t platform women to show them. We publish them to hear them.

Poetry. Art. Defiance.

Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/

@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social

#NotJustPretty: Meet the Artists Leading the Charge - The Broken Spine

On October 4, 2025, we’ll be launching #NotJustPretty — a new series that celebrates artists who identify as women. For us, this project is about refusing to

thebrokenspine.co.uk

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 14

'And in this dream, the same stone could tour through all the oceans of the world, never stopping once to sink...'
Touching blend of imagination & reality by Matt Leibel @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...

How to Skip a Rock Across the Pacific by Matt Leibel

Imagine the platonic ideal of the perfect skip. It’s a dream I had the first time I ever stepped foot on a Southern California beach as a kid: a stone I could skim off the sunglossed surface, that wou...

literarynamjooning.wixsite.com

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 14

'As the bottom of the hills came into view ... Maya savored the final twists and turns ... a tight holding on before letting go. Just like her marriage.'
Excellent weaving of the physical & emotional by Divya Durgadas @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...

Up and Down by Divya Durgadas

If you close your eyes and listen to snow falling, you will hear a crinkling softness, almost likethe sound of burning wood. If not for your other senses, it is uncanny how you can mistake one for the...

literarynamjooning.wixsite.com

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 14

'And even then, the sea will still be there. Of course, the sea doesn’t just go away. Place your hand here and listen.'
Wonderful reminder to stop & listen to nature & your heart in this piece by Mizuki Yamagen @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...

Beyond the Chattering Flush by Mizuki Yamagen

Here’s how you do it. Sit on the ledge, where the ivy climbs, threading dark green rivulets over the old stone wall. Place your hand here where the slate is firm and constant. See the little dip, wher...

literarynamjooning.wixsite.com

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Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social · Sep 14

'I think I prefer the sunshine, the way I think I prefer chocolate to vanilla and parties to rest but then the mist rolls in and I am reminded.'
Lovely piece by @thorntonforreal.bsky.social @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...