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.