The following piece is an edited extract from my dissertation about Frances Villiers, 5th Countess of Jersey. In the mid to late 1790s she was the mistress of George, Prince of Wales (King George IV) and has historically been depicted as manipulative and unscrupulous. In her time, Frances, Lady Jersey was widely suspected of two […]
Archives for 2016
The Murder of Dolly Henry
The following extract is from a longer piece about the life and death of an artist’s model called Dolly Henry, who sat for several great artists of the early twentieth century, including Augustus John, Laura Knight and Mark Gertler. In September 1914 Dolly returned from Cornwall alone. Until recently she had been posing for […]
After
We sleep in one room, long with a single window, double bed behind the curtain, singles rammed under the windowsill. Twin beds cosied up against each other – we dive into them and roll across the mattresses onto the floor, raising dust and static crackles, bruising bony white elbows. The bidet is hilarious, french is […]
Deception Island: A Poem for Voices
Poetry from MA graduate, and current PhD student, Elizabeth Lewis Williams
Bomb
Poetry from the recipient of the 2015/6 Ink, Sweat and Tears Scholarship, Joanna Hollins.
letter written in the library at 2am
To be honest, there’s little to blame but dreams. Last night you ruined all of them. They’re like loaded conversations or looking for sex in public toilets; everything is coded, indecipherable if you’re too drunk or if it’s your first time. You think you’re over something, yeh? One wrong word hangs around the room like […]
kings heath
we find a crown in some bins behind the pharmacy it glimmers green & makes promises I put it on & say give me a crown & I’ll be the king of anything whatever you like let it be that I’ll be its king I wrap tarpaulin robes around my body make myself up with […]
Near
Christ beside me, Christ before me Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me…[1] And so to praying: Adam’s hand to the Father stretches, measured point of lines and modelling: my ballet teacher tilts back my chin, (feel, girls: the thread from you to the ceiling). But from this line we pull away […]
so long, lonesome
back in belly of smoke & he’s ready to make his peace with god, I guess golden soles walked down to the bone should take it easier on himself, or whatever on & on form unto itself all our love begat an indecipherable algorithm peeling red distant echoes of skyline […]
Five UEA writers nominated for 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal
Five UEA alumni have been nominated for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal, which is now in its 80th year and rewards an outstanding book for children and young people. The nominated titles are Bad Apple by Matt Whyman (Creative Writing MA 1992),Twenty Questions for Gloria by Martyn Bedford (Creative Writing MA 1994), The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain by […]