A Year of Successes

National Poetry Day saw the announcement that Iris Anne Lewis’s poem ‘Swedish Fairytale’ has been highly commended in the Poetry Society’s Stanza competition.  

It is the culmination of an amazing year of successes for the group’s writers, which were celebrated at the annual meeting in September. 

Iris has had 17 poems published in journals and anthologies this year (Black Bough Poetry, Acropolis, Dawn Treader. The High Window, Wildfire Words, The Elements Anthology, and Ink, Sweat and Tears). She has also been placed in four poetry competitions, including the Wales Poetry Award 2022. 

Frank McMahon’s poems have appeared in four anthologies: The Wild Night Sky, Dialect Writers, Yew Tree Press and GWN Voices. Individual poems have appeared in Wildfire Words, Acumen, Erbacce and Sarasvati. He also read at the 2022 Cheltenham Poetry Festival and the Cheltenham Literature Festival.  

Peter Deacon published his second novel, The Long Double Cross and another novel is well on its way. Sophie Livingston’s novel The Green March Hotel has attracted the interest of an agent after being one of the 12 finalists in the 2022 Mslexia First Novel competition; Selwyn Morgan was Highly Commended in the National Association of Writers’ Groups competition for his short story, The COOP Hamper, and Dave Walklett successfully completed his master’s in creative writing and is hard at work on his first novel.  

Frank and Iris have been involved in co-founding ‘Writers in the Library’ — a monthly event with guest authors open to all.  

Most importantly, the group continues to encourage and support all its members in their writing ambitions, whether or not they are aiming for publication, with weekly reading and critiquing of work.