April 2020: call for submissions

March 26, 2020Leave a comment

April Submissions are open on FVR! The theme is Blossom ❤

To new and regular contributors to Free Verse Revolution, the April 2020 submissions window is open!

The theme will be Blossom and it can be interpreted in any way you wish; whether that be pieces about spring, the symbolism of blossom, a metaphor for innocence or a story about youth.

I accept poetry and short pieces of prose which interpret the theme of the month in some way, and only one piece from each writer; but you may send up to three pieces for consideration.

Please follow the guidelines, it makes accepting your work and scheduling it for publication so much easier. I edit FVR alone so these guidelines do exist for a reason. Thank you.

Submission guidelines:

Send your submissions to myscreamingtwenties@gmail.com

April’s theme: Blossom

Interpret the theme any way you wish; you do not need to use the word as a title. Pieces may be previously published.

Submission…

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A siren song

March 25, 2020March 14, 20202 Comments

The second time I kissed you was the first time we fell in love: a siren song without beeswax in our ears, helplessly stumbling across shingle for the shore, for the waves, seeking the sweet vibrations between our lips, succumbing to the fall as we tumble beneath sea level, deep into midnight. Poem: © … Continue reading A siren song

Witchcraft

March 23, 2020March 14, 20202 Comments

He speaks love like it’s witchcraft: blue smoke curling from the cauldron at his lips, kissable and lacquered with gloss. He speaks love and I tumble like cloth at his feet: spellbound, always, indebted to the softness of his touch, his words and his mind. He speaks love and I’m his. … Continue reading Witchcraft

Review of Owls of the Eastern Ice, Jonathan C. Slaght

March 21, 2020March 14, 2020Leave a comment

*Advanced review as this book is not set to release until Summer 2020 I have always thought owls are beautiful and mysterious creatures. I own two intricate wood carvings and a set of three who nest on my mantelpiece. Slaght’s work, however, taught me to look beyond their majestic beauty and see their fight for … Continue reading Review of Owls of the Eastern Ice, Jonathan C. Slaght

Leftovers

March 20, 2020March 8, 20207 Comments

I know we were young and these thoughts are just melodramatic coins thrown into a bottomless well, but I must ask, the vacuum between us now, if I was ever more than leftovers to you? If I can ever see myself as more than the girl you called by mistake. The girl who watched you … Continue reading Leftovers

Being fair and balanced in book reviews – Kristiana Reed

March 20, 2020Leave a comment

A piece I wrote for Go Dog Go Cafe about writing fair and balanced reviews.

Go Dog Go Café

001d91cf466102d208956e5c126d4ddc You’ve read a book and want to write a review, but the book was mediocre and you are frightened of offending the author. What do you do?

For almost a year now, I have written reviews for Reedsy Discovery, Amazon Vine and in support of indie authors. In this time, I have read brilliant books, discovered an appetite for memoirs I never thought I would have, and also forced myself to finish books that at best, were mediocre. The two- and three-star reviews are the hardest to write. Often, we feel obliged to support authors no matter what, especially self-published indie authors, but, if their work isn’t up to scratch, you owe it to the literary world and the author to be honest about what you have read.

So, how do you go about writing a review which is honest, yet fair and balanced? In my opinion, this process begins…

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Quiet warnings

March 18, 2020March 8, 20204 Comments

What if butterflies are quiet warnings for all to come: the bite marks and scratches, as the red flags gnaw your skin from the inside out never sinking their teeth in deep enough for you to listen. Poem: © Kristiana Reed 2020 Between the Trees UK Between the Trees US Signed copies on Etsy

Review of We of the Forsaken World, Kiran Bhat

March 17, 2020March 14, 2020Leave a comment

Originally published on Reedsy Discovery. The concept behind Bhat’s We Of The Forsaken World is original and interesting. He imagines communities living on the periphery of global advancement, and how the people living within them have similar stories to tell even when it seems they live worlds apart. Bhat’s writing is poetic and expansive. He … Continue reading Review of We of the Forsaken World, Kiran Bhat

My first

March 16, 2020March 8, 2020Leave a comment

My first thoughts of Spring came on a Sunday when the heavy storm clouds were broken by a blue I hadn't seen in days. A blue which could relinquish the sun's grasp and continue to shine. It was then I saw the knots of green, eager to bloom on the elder tree even though the … Continue reading My first

Half mast – Kristiana Reed

March 14, 20202 Comments

Another recent piece of mine on FVR, last month.

FREE VERSE REVOLUTION

The neighbours have a flag –

a Union Jack flying high

waving as the geese find home

in the early hours of a winter morn.

Sometimes, they fly it at half mast –

after London Bridge, after Manchester,

and I feel sad as I watch it wave

at the magpies and wood doves

because if we always chose

to honour those who’ve died in fear –

in a country which no longer sounds

like home in your mouth

then we would always be flying

our flags at half mast –

waving solemnly

as the birds fly past.

Kristiana Reed is a writer and an English Teacher living in the UK. She is the creator of My Screaming Twenties and sole editor of Free Verse Revolution on WordPress. She released her debut poetry collection, Between the Trees, in Spring 2019. Her work has been published in several poetry anthologies (Swear To…

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