City Lightscapes in the Poetry Village

 J.S. is delighted to have a new poem, City Lightscapes, published online by the Poetry Village, who pair poems with some wonderful images.

You can read it for free by clicking on this link.

Season's Wishes and a Little Light

2020 has been a rum old year, and no mistake. So, I'd like to take the opportunity to wish you all the best for the winter holidays, however you spend them this year, and to share some light, along with the traditional Yuletide flame.

Lights

To find this poem

I am following a bright star

through the darkest days of winter,

which is apposite.

It started with a star, if you believe,

and the bright of angel wings,

a blinding host

refracted on regal diadems,

golden caskets, the tender light

of a mother’s eye.

 

It is all about light,

born that night and reflecting

down centuries, millennia of firelight,

candle-glow, sparkle of crisp, sharp frost,

hopeful glimmers in the black, gaudy fairy-lights

shining on curves of polished glass,

excitement sparking in a child’s eyes

as they catch tinsel, shiny ribbon, gift-wrapped dreams.

All illuminating the longest dark

with a life-igniting festival of lights.

   

 

© J.S.Watts

Lights was first published in The Writers' Magazine

 

 

 

 

Country House Horror

J.S. Watts has a brand new and unsettling story in the December edition of Penumbric viliv, issue 4 and you can read it online. It's called The Sisters and its roots are in classic horror, but in a contemporary setting.

Up and coming young architect, Emily Quinton, feels oddly uncomfortable on her first visit to the country house of her new client, but her discomfort only grows when she makes a return visit...

Two By Two In December

1st December saw the launch of two new publications and J.S. has two poems in each of them.

Rebloom Anthology

OUT NOW to buy from Point Positive Press: https://rb.gy/55sqkt

Rebloom is an anthology of womxn’s poetry exploring the strength, resilience and empowerment that can be found in the lived experiences and stories told by womxn. Throughout history, resilience has been one of womxn's most remarkable traits. When you see the word resilience, you can think of a patch of unkept land that has gone wild. It’s full of colourful wildflowers, an array of bugs, butterflies and bees congregate there. It’s self sufficient, taking what it needs from the world so that it. Just. Keeps. Growing. But here's the thing about that. This wilderness faces many threats. They come thick and fast - a rogue walker tramples on some of the flowers, a storm floods the soil, a frost chills the ground. These things are inevitable. Sometimes the effects are tiny, sometimes much more significant. And yet in this thriving wilderness, life always finds a way back. Blooms re flower, creatures keep coming back and the land, it continues to take what it needs. It. Just. Keeps. Growing. Point Positive Publishing believes that womxn have that same quality and we wanted to showcase that through this collection of poetry.

❀ Penny Blackburn ❀ Jennifer Bostian ❀ Kelly Butcher ❀ Vanessa Caraveo ❀ Anannya Dasgupta ❀ Nikki Marrone ❀ S. Rupsha Mitra ❀ KB Nelson ❀ Kathryn O'Driscoll ❀ Louise O'Neill's ❀ Somjeeta Pandey ❀ Heather Pease ❀ Glady Ruiz ❀ Marjorie Sanders ❀ J.S.Watts ❀ Lynn White ❀ Jeanette Willert

J.S.'s poems are Lycanthropist and I Want To Be Legend 

Littoral Magazine - Issue One

OUT NOW for free from Littoral Press - Nature and the Spirit: littoralpressuk.jimdofree.com

Click on the link and then follow the further links to the free issue of the magazine.

J.S.'s poems are Bartlow Hills and Summer Buzzard.

Zoom Along to Fen Speak This December

Fen Speak spoken word open mic night is taking place on Wednesday, 16th December at 7pm for 7.30pm. Their special guest for the evening is J.S. Watts.

J.S. will be sharing poems from her four poetry collections and pamphlets. There'll also be open mic slots for poems and stories, which you can sign up for on the night or in advance.

This event will be online via Zoom. Register in advance via Eventbrite to receive the Zoom meeting details.

Electric Dreams - Illustrated

J.S. 's dark short story "Electric Dreams" appears in #5 (Vol II, Issue II) of Raconteur and because the magazine is all about the best writing and the best artwork, there is a rather fine illustration to accompany the story. You will have to buy the magazine to see it for yourself, along with the many other excellent stories and illustrations this issue contains. Copies are available from Amazon

 

Ritual in The Dread Machine

A brand new and very dark short story by J.S Watts is now available to read in The Dread Machine. 

You can find out more about Ritual by clicking here.