Olmo in August

J.S. Watts will be the guest reader at this month's Olmo Lounge poetry event in Huntingdon, alongside a variety of readers from the Huntingdon area.

The event will take place on Tuesday, 26th August. People gather from 6.30pm and readings kick off at 6.45. Further details can be found on this website's Events Page

Telling Stories

 

J.S. has a brand new (never before published) short story out now in  The Lorelei Signal. 

The story is Telling Stories and you can read it for free here.

Want to know what it's about?

Those who are right are not always likeable. On a dying world, a cantankerous elderly woman stubbornly refuses to change the stories she tells in order to be popular, but she will not be the only one who has to pay the price for her unbending approach.

From A High Window

J.S.'s review of Elaine Briggs' confident, descriptively rich poetry collection Cusp is peering out from the latest set of High Window reviews. Read it and other up to the minute reviews here. 

An Eventful July

J.S. has a number of events taking place in July, three of which are listed on the events page of this website.

The first two are:

Word Salad on Saturday, 5th July from 6pm at the Thrive Cafe, Norfolk Street, Cambridge. J.S. will be reading a couple of her poems from The Submerged Sea.

CB1 on Sunday, 6th July from 6.30pm at the Town and Gown, Market Passage, Cambridge. J.S. will be the spotlight poet for the event and will be reading from Underword.       

42

Yes, the answer is 42 (search "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" if you're not certain what that signifies), or at least issue 42 of The Seventh Quarry International Poetry Magazine, which is out now. J.S. has two new poems in issue 42: Dead Deer on Tarmac and Waiting for The Snow To Fall (From Inside The Goldfish Bowl).

Dynamic Duo?

 

J.S. is delighted to have had a poem shortlisted for the Frogmore Poetry Prize for a second time. Ringed Changes was shortlisted for the 2019 prize. This time it's the turn of Fen Shadow, which was shortlisted for the 39th Frogmore Poetry Prize and which you'll be able to read in the September issue of the Frogmore Papers.

It's also the second time around for the winner of this year's prize, Sharon Black. Congratulations, Sharon!

Once Upon a Time in Hitchin

Join J.S. and other members of the Society of Authors at Once Upon a Hitchin for a magical evening as Hertfordshire’s (and near by's) finest authors bring their fiction and poetry to life, live.

Tickets are now available from the Hitchin Festival Box Office for Once Upon A Hitchin at Hitchin Library, Hitchin on Thursday 31st July 2025 starting at 6:30PM.

A Writing Life Retold For OUSC

The next OUSC event will take place on Thursday, 10th July 202 at Little St Mary’s, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QG (refreshments and a chance to mingle from 7pm, ready for a 7.30pm start), when OUSC member J.S. Watts (Somerville, English) will speak about ‘A Writing Life’.

"J.S.Watts is a British poet and novelist who weaves the fantastical and the literary with other vibrant strands to create glowing, multi-faceted writing as found in her nine published books and many globally published short stories, poems and articles.

Originally from London, she now lives in a village in South Cambridgeshire. In between, she read English at Somerville College, Oxford and spent many years working in the British education sector. 

In this evening event for OUSC, J.S.Watts talks candidly about her journey to becoming a published author, with lessons learned and pointers for those who want them (and stories for those who don’t), along with readings from her poetry and novels."

Her books will be available to browse and buy - cash only, please.

The event is open to OUSC members and guests.

Ten Years Old Today!

It's the tenth anniversary of the publication of Witchlight and the beginning of the Witchlight Series. Happy Anniversary, Witchlight!

Something Old, Something New, Something Blue

It's Spring, but it's not wedding bells you hear. It's the arrival of issue 9 of Lit Shark.

Beneath the deep turquoise blue cover of the literary magazine you can find two poems by J.S. : The Flotilla of Lost Words, a poem that has been published before, and How It Begins. How It Finishes, a brand new poem that's breaking surface for the first time now.

The online edition is available to read for free here and you will soon be able to purchase the paperback edition to cherish and keep.

Go on. Dive in.

Ouse Muse - Musing in May

On Tuesday, 6th May J.S. will be the guest poet at Bedford's Ouse Muse. There will also be an Open Mic. So, come along to listen to the poetry, or read a poem, or both.

Ouse Muse begins at 8pm and is held in The Eagle Bookshop, 16-20 St. Peter's Street, Bedford.

A High Window in Spring

And just to prove that reviews are like London buses, although March isn't quite over yet, following hard on the heels (or should that be tyres) of J.S.'s first review of the year, she has another three reviews out in The High Window.

Click here to read J.S.'s thoughts about Still Life by Rebecca Bilkau, Lilith Speaks by Clare Proctor and Subcutaneous by Maria Isakova-Bennett.

First Review of the Year

 

J.S. Watts has reviewed Siegfried Baber's deeply rich poetry pamphlet, The Twice-Turned Earth, for The High Window. You can read the review in the Spring Issue reviews section.

March Metamorphosis

Poetry for the culturally amphibious...

J.S. has a new poem, Deeper Diving, in the beautiful Metamorphosis issue (issue 8, Spring/ Summer 2025) of The Amphibian, due out on 6th March. You can find further details at:    

        https://theamphibianlit.wordpress.com/ 

                       

Ely in March

 J.S. will be reading and performing some of her poetry in Ely on Sunday, 9th March.

Blood Lust in February

It's February and the horror anthology Blood Lust  - "Where passion ignites fear and terror stokes desire" - is out (or will be by 8 February 2025).

Published by Black Hare Press in ebook, paperback and hardcover, it simmers with "spicy horror stories exploring the darker side of human desires, each revealing how closely linked passion and fear can be, creating a captivating mix of heat and dread."

One of those very adult stories is Ornament by J.S. Watts. If you are over 18, you might want to check it out.

Yes, It's 2025, But Here's the Best of 2024!

J.S. is honoured to have her poem "Gull" included in the Lit Shark Best of 2024 Anthology. 

As part of the anthology's stated aim of “Something Old, Something New, Something to Sink Your Teeth Into” the new poem by J.S. included alongside "Gull" is "May".

The anthology is now available as a paperback and hardcover edition.The official announcement and further details of the publication are here. Feel free to check it out. It won't bite.  https://litshark.com/lit-shark-best-2024-anthology

It's 2025!

It's 2025, and to celebrate the New Year J.S. has a new poem, "Yellow, Orange Red",  published on the twelfth day of Ink, Sweat and Tears' annual Twelve Days of Christmas special.

You can read "Yellow, Orange Red" here alongside "Turn, Turn, Turn Again" by KB Ballentine and "This Year" by Terry Dyson.

Happy New Year to you!