Allison Adkins is in the third year of a Creative Writing and English Literature degree course at Northumbria University. She lives with her husband and two children on the outskirts of Newcastle.
Having worked in public services for over 15 years, Taiba has recently moved across the Pennines from Lancashire. Taiba’s first short screenplay in 2016 was longlisted for Create 50’s international film contest The Impact. In 2017 Taiba was selected for New Writing North’s talent development programme Significant Ink. Driven by clichéd depictions, Taiba aims to reclaim the narrative with her writing.
Dima Alzayat was born in Damascus, Syria, grew up in San Jose, California, and now lives in Manchester. She was the winner of the 2017 Bristol Short Story Prize and the 2015 Bernice Slote Award, runner-up in the 2018 Deborah Rogers Award and the Zoetrope: All-Story Competition, and was Highly Commended in the 2013 Bridport Prize.
Amy has lived in various locations but finally settled in Cumbria in 2016. She has tried her hand at everything from swede packing to lecturing in Psychology and is an inveterate reader of mind-blowing literature, irrespective of which corner of the globe it hails from. Slip of a Fish is her first novel.
Heather Askwith has lived in the North East ever since she moved for university and couldn’t bear to leave. Whilst studying her undergraduate degree in Media Studies at Northumbria, Heather was an active member of the Writers’ Society and had her first short story in print as part of the society anthology.
Alison Armstrong grew up in Leeds and Withernsea, a small coastal town in North Humberside. She studied at Leeds University, Lancaster University and University of Cambridge and has lived near Lancaster for 17 years, with her two children, working as a teacher, practicing painter and a cleaner. She has been writing for many years – mainly short stories, which are her passion, but also working on a novel and a play.
Rachael Allen was born in Cornwall and studied English Literature at Goldsmiths College. She is the poetry editor for Granta, co-editor at the poetry press Clinic and of online journal Tender.
Polly Atkin lives in Cumbria. Her debut poetry pamphlet 'bone song' (Aussteiger, 2008) was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award, 2009. Her second poetry pamphlet 'Shadow Dispatches' (Seren, 2013) won the Mslexia Pamphlet Prize, 2012. Her first full collection, Basic Nest Architecture, was published by Seren in February 2017.
Nuzhat lives in Bradford where she completed an Education Studies degree with a subject specialism in English Language. Her play When George Came to Bradford was part of the Bradford Literature Festival and has been with recorded for the BBC Radio website.
Zainab lives in Sheffield where she is in the process of finishing off her GCSEs. She describes herself as ‘passionate about music, films, books, the universe, pacifism and gender equality’.
Since she began writing poetry in 1992, Maureen Almond has published Hot (1997), Tailor Tacks (1999), Oyster Baby (2002), The Works (2004) and Tongues in Trees (2005). She has a strong interest in classical literature and is currently a research student at the University of Newcastle concentrating on the Roman poet, Horace.
Luke Allan is a poet and publisher based in Manchester. Luke won a Northern Promise Award in 2011 and currently works as managing editor at poetry press Carcanet.
Born Blaydon on Tyne, 1957, Peter studied philosophy & english Sunderland, trained as teacher, psychiatric nurse, and cognitive therapist. His collections include: Risings (Enitharmon), The Red Funnelled Boat, and The Capital of Nowhere (both Picador), Book of Ogham and pamphlet, Madame Noire (Shoestring).
Karon Alderman writes for both children and adults. Karon’s crime short story, The Millionaire’s Wife was published in Northern Crime One (Moth Publishing 2015) and she has recently completed a crime novel, Head Start, part of a planned series set on the Island of Anglesey, where she grew up and where she has close ties.
