Issue 10 – March 2023

and there is a face | that reminds me of a closed door

We’ve reached double digits. Twinkle toes. The tenth rendition of Briefly Zine is a melody fit for aching.

In Issue 10, we pine for epiphany. Long for flux. We let graveyards mix with county fairs and street ghosts with suitcase dreams. Unpardonable laments, bloodset sewing with circular orphans. Step sisters. Sirens. And snapshots. Hope.

We started Briefly Zine in June 2020, promising to ‘captivate, inspire and entertain’. One turned to two turned to three four five became six then seven eight led to nine and 10. Ready or not. We hope we’re still doing all three.

With 10 comes a sense of completeness. With 10 an insatiable yearning for 11. Submissions will re-open in July 2023, with a theme yet to be decided. Closed doors, open doors and faces, lots of faces.

Daniel & Elinor


I

Mark Valentine, ‘Street Ghosts’

Namratha Varadharajan, ‘A measure of the past from the future’

Fabio Sassi, Two Photos

Gina Twardosz, ‘Circular Orphans’

Cathy Ulrich, Two Stories

Praveena Pulendran, ‘Bloodset’

II

Emily Pinkerton, ‘October 17, 2021’

Claire Nora, Two Photos

Dominik Slusarczyk, ‘Sewing’

Georgina Titmus, ‘step-sisters’

Raye Hendrix, Two Photos from ‘Graveyard of the Gods’

III

Alice Willington, ‘All the time’

Vyacheslav Konoval, ‘Volunteer veterans’

Sherry Morris, ‘On Reflection’

Emily Munro, ‘suitcase dream’

Isaiah Duey, ‘Sirena’

IV

Lizzie Eldridge, Two Stories

Ellis Jamieson, ‘She’ll be a Writer’

Jesse Saldivar, ‘Loving Him Epiphany’

Edward Hagelstein, ‘County Fair’

Lucy Goldring, ‘Unpardonable’

V

Chloe McIntosh, ‘For That One Friend I Don’t Speak to Anymore’

Lu Knight, ‘N Judah St.’

Tim Love, ‘Making it better’

Annie McCann-Gomm, ‘Three Ways with Hope’

Alastair Jackson, Two Photos


Digits

Our call for mini-essays, BRIEFLY THINK, is inviting responses up to 250 words to the prompt, Where does the poem end and the person begin?. Submit by email by 31 March 2023.


(El)even

Isn’t 11 odd? Issue 11 will be themed (theme TBA). Subs will open in July 2023.


10 lines

The Briefly Write Poetry Prize 2023 will open for entries in May 2023. We’re looking for poems up to 10 lines. Free to enter; prize fund to be announced.


10 words

This year’s ‘Write 10, Win 10’ micro fiction contest will take place in October 2023. Free to enter.


Support our work

Briefly Write would like to exist in a non-monetary world. Unfortunately, website fees.

We will never charge to submit to our Zine or competitions. And we don’t take a penny out for ourselves.

If you are able to and would like to support our work, we are always grateful to receive donations on Ko-fi. The equation is simple: the more we get, the more we can give away in prize funds.