In case the morning frosts, appearance of big Celebrations tubs in the supermarkets, and sudden urge to hum Mariah Carey haven’t clued you in, the winter gifting season is upon us – and we’re here to help you tick the poetry lovers in your life off your list with a selection of works by contributors from this year’s issues.
Our final issue of the year, Winter 2025: Home & Resilience has just hit shelves and doormats – it literally is fresh off the press. This issue leans in to the concept of ‘wintering’ – the time of year when we naturally want to slow down and look inwards, and the desire to build both home and resilience are strongest. Features including the culmination of our year-long Ling di Long, Mufambi project; a ‘clecs’ interview with Poet Laureate for the Welsh Women’s Football Team 2025 Sarah McCreadie; and work from the winners of the Poetry Wales Award 2025 and our Young Poets Award.
Collections by contributors to this issue are perfect for the reader who loves nothing more than to slow down, take a breather, and put on a mental ‘out of office’ on until at least mid-February.
A History of Hand Thrown Walls (Unsolicited Press 2025)
A History of Hand Thrown Walls is a captivating novella-in-flash, blending interconnected flash fiction pieces with the timeless presence of hand-built walls scattered across Connecticut. The novella begins with tales from pre-colonial times, journeys through pivotal moments in history, and culminates in a dystopian future. Recognized for its innovation and depth, it was shortlisted for The Reflex Novella Awards.
Mind’s Eye: Notelets & Dialogues in Tribute to Paul Celan (Broken Sleep Books, 2024)
Mind’s Eye by Carol Rumens is a profound exploration of memory, language, and trauma. In this compelling collection, Rumens engages in a dialogue with the life and work of the poet Paul Celan, whose poetry was deeply influenced by his experiences during the Holocaust and his struggle with mental illness.
A Brief Inhalation (Broken Sleep Books 2025)
A Brief Inhalation is a candid exploration of contemporary existence, dissecting themes of identity, dislocation, and introspection with an unflinching eye. Blurring the line between essay, memoir, and poetic observation, Fleming navigates encounters with the absurd, the intimate, and the existential with a voice that is wry, incisive, and humane. From fragmented conversations to immersive cityscapes, from the weight of memory to the fluidity of self-perception, this collection captures the restlessness of a mind attuned to the strange rhythms of modern life.
Fierce Salvage: A Queer Words Anthology (404Ink, 2025)
Curious and provocative, sometimes domestic, sometimes otherworldly, this collection of stories, poems and memoir provides a snapshot of Scotland’s queer community and LGBTI+ writing scene, and captures the variety of experiences that bind our community together.
Niamh (Independently published 2019)
Once upon a time when we were very young, and we still lived in the summer country. As constant as the sky, the ocean, the wash of waves on soft, golden sand, gulls circling high above. As old as time, and as young, before she fell in love.
Battery Rocks (Seren Books (2024)
“Battery Rocks is a ‘meditation on nature, risk, swimming & the sea’. It won the Arthur Welton award & the Holyer an Gof Award for Poetry
Human Townsperson (Broken Sleep Books 2022)
A collection which uses motifs from quest narratives, whether from folklore, fantasy novels or role playing games, to explore the journeys of our everyday lives and trouble the myth of the solitary hero.
Obligations to the Wounded(University of Pittsburgh Press 2025)
In formally adventurous stories rooted in Zambian literary tradition, Obligations to the Wounded explores the expectations and burdens of womanhood in Zambia and for Zambian women living abroad. The collection converses with global social problems through the depiction of games, social media feuds, letters, and folklore to illustrate how girls and women manage religious expectation, migration, loss of language, death, intimate partner violence, and racial discrimination.
The Literary Business(Parthian Books 2025)
The Literary Business” is an episodic memoir of the literary pathway he followed, mostly without compass or map, over half a century and more. In the same way that scribes wrote the lives of saints to guide and inspire the faithful, so Finch’s memories can help guide today’s writers and literary creatures.
Window Dressing for Hermès (Parthian 2004)
Window Dressing for Hermès is a collection of poetry inspired by a life in not only the cliché of Paris but also the heightened reality of a mixed marriage and the search for identity through art, ritual and word-smithing.
Invisible Wasp (Liquid Amber Press 2024 )
In Invisible Wasp, Stephanie Powell explores the business of observing and responding to the range of life’s experiences, from anxious struggle to deep connection. Through cycles of desire and disappointment and introspection, these exciting and insightful poems build to the promise of something new. Also available to purchase as a PDF.
Back Teeth (Broken Sleep Books 2022)
Back Teeth is the debut pamphlet from the phenomenal Taylor Edmonds, examining girlhood, the feminine body, and the dark place within that snarls and roars with veined gums. Edmonds uses these startling poems as vehicles for identity, nature, and womanhood, unearthing an enchanting and frightening landscape. Edmonds’ bold, fierce poems give way to discovery through her sharp, vivid imagination .This is poetry that questions and challenges the world around it, pushing the limits of the known and creating new ground on which to walk.
Noon (The Emma Press, 2026)
Noon is the debut pamphlet from Birmingham-born poet Zain Rishi, exploring home, family and faith. From the heat of the school relay and his grandmother’s Kashmiri chai to the images of a young man kissing a city goodbye, these poems chart a coming-of-age journey across place, sexuality and family ties.
Another perfect present for those who like to dig deep into the world of poetry? A subscription to Poetry Wales magazine. Not only will they get three volumes a year of never-before-published work from emerging and established writers, but they’ll also get access to all of the bonus features unique to subscribers, including a discount at Seren Books, free competition entries and event tickets, and exclusive access to upcoming seminars for writers from our editor. Oh, and you’ll also be supporting an independent Welsh literary magazine and helping us keep publishing new poets. It’s a win-win.