Ottley (formerly Wyatt) writes poetry – and some short fiction – from her home in Penzance in Cornwall. Since 2009, her work has appeared in more than 150 journals, magazines and anthologies including The Blue Nib, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Atrium Poetry and Words With Jam. She was also one of the poets featured in Wave Hub: new poetry from Cornwall (2014) edited by Dr Alan M Kent and published by Francis Boutle. In 2019, 12 of her poems were translated into Romanian for Pro Saeculum and Banchetul. For this, much gratitude to translator and bilingual poet, Mariana Gardner. In the … Continue reading Abigail Ottley

Sampson is a writer-producer based in Cyprus and the UK. His work has appeared in Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel, The Scofield, and The Writers’ Magazine, among others. His short story Flames and Shadows was nominated for a 2018 Pushcart Prize. Film projects include Behind the Mirror(writer/producer – winner of Best Thriller in the Manhattan Film Festival 2015), Vita and Virginia and Show Me The Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall(executive producer). He loves Alfred Hitchcock films. And traveling. And the Cloud. And is currently working on a psychological horror script. Even Gods Die When all else fails we whip the horse’s eye. Jimmy screams. Nietzsche weeps. God dies and we lament, swept away by the madness of murder. We are now beyond good … Continue reading Nicolas Sampson

Christian Ward is a UK based poet who can be currently found in Wild Greens, Cold Moon Review, Discretionary Love, Spillwords and Chantarelle’s Notebook. Future poems will be appearing in Spry, Dreich and Uppagus.  Portrait of my father as a young man Formalwear doesn’t suit you – the white Malteser of your head standing out like Tippex against a pinstripe or navy blazer. In photos, that skull hard to ignore, your Nosferatu features a give away. No wonder you were chased often: under the local by-pass, down canals and through city centres by boys unable to make sense of your unusual genetics. Later you hid under a scarf, tucking away … Continue reading Christian Ward

Maureen was born in West Dunbartonshire and now lives in Argyll and Bute. She is a retired social worker who specialised in fostering and adoption. In 2015, she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University where she studied poetry and short fiction. She has been shortlisted in various competitions, including The Fish Short Story Prize and The Bristol Short Story Prize. In 2016, she was published by Nine Arches Press, along with three other poets, in Primers 1. She has poetry published in a range of magazines, including Shooter…and The Interpreter’s House. She has stories published in Impspired, … Continue reading Maureen Cullen

Susie Gharib is a graduate of the University of Strathclyde with a Ph.D. on the work of D.H. Lawrence. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in multiple venues including Adelaide Literary Magazine, The Curlew, The Ink Pantry, A New Ulster, Down in the Dirt, the PLJ, and Mad Swirl. ∞  I saw in the far horizon the emblem of infinity, the symbol I studied at school, a prospect of possibilities, a sheet of endless blue for navigators who sought eternity. But further learning had brought a halt to an elusive fallacy for beyond the horizon were ports of cities that teemed … Continue reading Susie Gharib

Since her retirement from working as a student advisor in Dublin City University, Anne Marie Byrne has been enjoying a life of leisure. Favourite activities include:  theatre, photography, travel, cookery, swimming and enjoying nature, especially in her native county Wicklow. She has attended Tanya Farrelly’s creative writing workshops at Purple House in Bray, Co Wicklow where this and her previous Impspired stories were first developed. Her research interests include criminology, incarceration, prisoner education and rehabilitation.  Her M.Phil thesis (Trinity College, Dublin) focused on the Theatre Project in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin and her Ph.D (Dublin City University) explored education for juvenile … Continue reading Anne Marie Byrne

Sarah Mackey Kirby is a Kentucky poet. She is the author of the poetry collection, The Taste of Your Music (Impspired, 2021). Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Ploughshares, Muddy River Poetry Review, Impspired Magazine, The New Verse News, Chiron Review, and elsewhere. She holds an MA in teaching and a BA in political science from the University of Louisville. She and her husband live in Louisville. Twenty Years have passed since the morning fell to rubble and the Hudson River filled with dust. Since conversations fell like teardrops into night-shadowed Lower Manhattan and the air collected … Continue reading Sarah Mackey Kirby

Christine Valters Paintner is an American poet living in Galway, Ireland and the author of twelve books of nonfiction and two collections of poems: Dreaming of Stones (2019) and The Wisdom of Wild Grace, both from Paraclete Press. Her poems have appeared in several journals in North America, UK, and Ireland including Tales from the Forest, Crannog, Stinging Fly, The Blue Nib, Headstuff, The Galway Review, Boyne Berries, impspired, Bangor Journal, Tiferet, Spiritus, Presence, and Anchor. You can find more of her writing and poetry at AbbeyoftheArts.com. Corcomroe Abbey  If you pause you can hear the whispered longings and wailings carried across this … Continue reading Christine Valters Paintner

Edward O’Dwyer is from Limerick, Ireland, and writes poetry and fiction. His most recent book, Cheat Sheets, was published by Truth Serum Press (2018) and features on The Lonely Crowd journal’s ‘Best Books of 2018’ list. His third collection of poems from Salmon Poetry is due in 2020, entitled Exquisite Prisons. The collection The Rain on Cruise’s Street (2014) was Highly Commended by the Forward Prizes, while the poem ‘The Whole History of Dancing’, from Bad News, Good News, Bad News (2017), won the Eigse Michael Hartnett Festival 2018 ‘Best Original Poem’ Prize. His story ‘The Man Who Became Poems’ was recently a Finalist in the London Independent Story Prize. He … Continue reading Edward O’Dwyer

Clair Chilvers has had numerous poems published in journals and anthologies. Her first collection Out of the Darkness(Frosted Fire)was published in2021. She was a cancer epidemiologist and latterly worked for the UK National Health Service. She lives in Gloucestershire UK. Her forthcoming collection Island (Impspired Press) will be published in 2022. The poems published below are taken from the collection. All royalties from the sale of  Island will go to the charity Mental Health Research UK which she co-founded in 2008. http://clairchilverspoetry.co.uk/ Twenty Years On I returned alone to challenge the memories waited for my case by the new carousel … Continue reading Clair Chilvers