Tag: Fiction

Issue 12 – August 2024

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One and two and before you know it, Briefly Zine is 12.

In Issue 1, we promised to ‘captivate, inspire and entertain’. Contributors in #2 were ‘united by their ability to tell a powerful tale in few words’. #3 centred on ‘a moment of connection’. With #4, we went ‘full circle’. #5 led to ‘a record number of coffees while we settled arguments about submissions’; #6 led us into new ‘worlds and wormholes’. #7, our first themed issue, urged action in response to the climate crisis. #8 offered ‘delicacies for your eyes and ears’ and ‘proof of the power of art, the transient permanence of a moment’. #9 (theme: EMPTY SPACES) was ‘full of gaps’ but also ‘full of creativity, originality and concision […] heartfelt cries and moments of silence’. In #10, we assembled ‘a melody fit for aching’. Our theme for #11 was WHAT NEXT?, which was answered and avoided in equal measure.

Now, with Issue 12, we have once again gone full circle.

Our little literary space has soared. Every issue brings more submissions and more readers. We have cycled through seasons, glimpsed thousands of lives and lands and literary styles.

As ever, we are proud to publish a mix of first timers and lit-mag old timers. Issue 12 has sharp imagery, evocative images and powerful imaginings. It features songs undanced, cold tiles, new births, mothers, heart-shaped crevices, lizards, apple trees, bones, mesh and Camden Bridge. It has poems, prose and photos. Above all, it packs millions of memories into the merest of moments. Each piece seeks to dazzle and distract, to entertain or enlighten. We are delighted that we can again pay all contributors thanks to the generosity of our supporters.

We’d love to hear what you think of Issue 12. Email contact@brieflywrite.com 💙

Daniel & Elinor

Camden Bridge (pinhole) - a photo by Sam des Fleurs

Cover art

Sam des Fleurs, ‘Camden Bridge (pinhole)’

1

Catherine Sleeman, ‘Why I won’t dance to the songs you sang in 2017’

Nazaret Ranea, Two Poems

Jack Wright, ‘Lizard’

Myra Stevens, ‘New Birth’

2

Elena Chamberlain, ‘Earth as Mother’

Dianna Morales, ‘indigo heart’

Suzanne van Leendert, ‘Crab Apple Blossoms’

AA Manza, ‘Beneath me the tiles are cold’

From the archive…

Rare Animals

by Ruth Callaghan do Valle

Rare animals fascinate me.
Night falls and I lie in wait.
Silence descends, the conditions are favourable,
there is every chance now that they will
make an appearance –
Would I still recognise them?
A sudden disturbance puts them to flight.
Shenanigans, shy creatures that they are,
make themselves scarce. 
They are unlikely to return now with the toddler so close, 
a dormant despot whose iron grip is inescapable. 
So we settle down in the hide and wait for another day
and pray for conditions to remain favourable.

(from Briefly Zine #4. See here: Two Poems by Ruth Callaghan do Valle)

We pay all contributors

We pay all contributors to Briefly Zine, as well as all writers published through our competitions. Thank you to everyone who has supported our little literary space for making this possible.

Issue 13 theme to be announced…

Submissions for Issue 13 will open on 27 October 2024. This will be a themed issue; we’ll be announcing the theme shortly.

Follow Briefly Write on LinkedIn

If you use LinkedIn, please give us a follow: Briefly Write – LinkedIn

Issue 11 – January 2024

What next? What comes after THIS and THAT and THESE and THOSE?

In our submission call in July, we stressed that ‘WHAT NEXT?’ was a loose theme. Submitters treated it that way. We read hundreds of AFTERS and THEREFORES and AS A RESULTS. But we also saw WHAT IFS? and WHY NOTS? and WHERE ARE WE GOINGS?

From hundreds of diverse and thought-provoking predictions, warnings and possibilities, Issue 11 formed. Our 16 brilliant writers and artists reflect on snapshots of a future and the future of snapshots. The results are enthralling, escapist, engaged and enlightening.

One of our favourite things about micro fiction and micro poetry is the way it continues to give something new on each re-read (or re-listen). We hope these poems, stories and artworks won’t be static. We hope they travel forward with the reader into whatever comes next…

Daniel & Elinor

WHERE?

Tayiba Sulaiman, ‘Table manners’

Mike Farren, ‘Reading Wise Children in a hotel lobby’

Rucha Virmani, ‘Late Spring in the Anthropocene’

Kiley Brockway, ‘Haunted’

Molly Knox, ‘I heard them howling and barking in the distance’

AIR

Seán Street, Two Poems

Mia Kelly, ‘The New Highway, 1972. Walsh Norrel. Black and white photograph.’

Dila Toplusoy, ‘live’

Jacelyn Yap, ‘Once a Home’

Allison Renner, ‘Dendrology’

Lawrence Bradby, ‘Empty-handed’

RE–

Suzanne Hicks, ‘Believe Me’

Jayant Kashyap, ‘A breeze in the midst of rain—’

Lei Kim, Two Poems

Zary Fekete, ‘Except, Grass’

Sambhu Nath Banerjee, ‘Next? A Dismal Destiny’

Briefly Write Issue 11 contributors - Mike Farren / Molly Knox / Lei Kim / Allison Renner / Jayant Kashyap / Rucha Virmani / Tayiba Sulaiman / Kiley Brockway / Zary Fekete / Mia Kelly / Jacelyn Yap / Lawrence Bradby / Seán Street / Suzanne Hicks / Sambhu Nath Banerjee / Dila Toplusoy

Big little news…

We are proud to announce that we are now paying all contributors to Briefly Zine. Thank you to everyone who has supported us on our journey so far.

Briefly Zine in 2024

Submissions for Issue 12 will open in April 2024, with an expected publication date of July. We will announce details for Issue 13 (themed) later in the year.

Poetry Prize

We recently announced the results of our third annual poetry prize. You can read all the winning and shortlisted poems here: Briefly Write Poetry Prize 2023. Our next competition will open in May 2024.

Our Best of the Net Nominations 2024

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We are delighted to announce our nominations for the 2024 Best of the Net anthology.

Needless to say, this is always an extremely difficult decision (we love all the pieces we publish). Best of luck to our nominees; you can (re-)read their work via the links below.

Our Best of the Net nominations for 2024 ~ Elancharan Gunasekaran, Praveena Pulendran, Aimee R. Cervenka, Frank William Finney, Emily Munro, Jennie E. Owen, Namratha Varadharajan, Alice Willington, Tom Frazer, Cathy Ulrich

ART

Elancharan Gunasekaran, ‘ghost coast’

Praveena Pulendran, ‘Bloodset’

POETRY

Aimee R. Cervenka, ‘Thinking of Basements’

Frank William Finney, ‘Elegy for an Elm’

Emily Munro, ‘suitcase dream’

Jennie E. Owen, ‘Haircut’

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

Alice Willington, ‘All the time’

FICTION

Tom Frazer, ‘Green’

Cathy Ulrich, ‘Where They Found You’

Issue 11 is coming soon. And it’s a special one for us…

Starting with Issue 11, Briefly Write will be paying all contributors!

Since we started Briefly Zine in June 2020, we have published 10 issues of quality brief writing and photography. We are delighted now to embark on the next chapter of our little literary zine: starting with Issue 11, we will be paying all contributors for their words and art.

Submissions will remain free. That will never change. Therefore, the payment won’t be life changing. Even so, we are immensely proud to be able to offer our contributors a small token of appreciation for their brilliance.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey so far. There’s a lot more to come…

Support us

Briefly Feedback

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Donate on Ko-fi then email your words to contact@brieflywrite.com with 'Feedback' in the subject line. We will respond as quickly as possible and always within two weeks. Thank you for supporting our little literary space!

Insightful comments and inspiring prompts…

Our editors will get to the heart of your poem or story. We’ll provide incisive, insightful comments on form, structure, word choice, style and impact. We’ll also ask questions that invite you to take the poem or story further.

What you’ll get:

  1. Personalised response to your poem or story
  2. Tailored suggestions on style, impact and technique
  3. Questions and prompts to stimulate further reflection
  4. Friendly and helpful feedback from editors who care
  5. Chance to send follow-up questions and discuss the work further

We ask for a contribution of £12 per poem (up to 24 lines) or story (up to 600 words). Every penny we receive goes directly to paying (1) website costs, (2) writers.

For longer pieces, get in touch (contact [at] brieflywrite [dot] com) for a personalised quote.

How do I get my feedback?

1. Make your donation on our Ko-Fi page. Leave a note in the comments box stating that you are paying for feedback.

2. Email your work to contact [at] brieflywrite [dot] com in a word doc or in the body of the email. Please make sure your name matches the name you used to donate (or tell us if they don’t!) so we can cross-check.

3. Sit back (and keep writing!) for up to two weeks while we read, review and write our responses to your work. We’ll return it as quickly as possible without compromising on quality. And we will, of course, keep you updated if there are any delays.

**PLEASE NOTE: Writing sent through Briefly Feedback is not eligible for publication in Briefly Zine or for entry in any Briefly competition. We can, however, recommend other journals, publishers or competitions we think might be a good fit for the piece, if desired.**

Thank you for supporting our little literary space!

‘Write 10, Win 10’ 2021

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A huge thank you to everyone who submitted to our inaugural micro competition. We received 116 entries and thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them. Entries were read anonymously by a panel of four judges.

We were treated to an inspiring mix of discoveries: everything from witches, treasure hunters, weddings, gods and new books to space, presents, mirrors, moons and murderers.

After many hours of deliberation, we are delighted to reveal that the winner is Rebecca Kinnarney. Rebecca’s story stood out for its humour, clever construction and inventive take on the theme.

The following writers made the shortlist: Laura Besley, Mandira Pattnaik, William Davis, Jessica Klimesh, Ruth Callaghan do Valle, Susy Churchill, Linda Sejung Park, Rita Lazaro and Gunnar De Winter. They all managed to tell a full story in ten words, hiding layers of meaning beneath the surface.

You can read our 10 selected stories below.

WINNER (£10)

10th January. One mince pie left. It must be love.

Rebecca Kinnarney

SHORTLIST

Letters unearthed. “Dad’s dead, you said.” “Sorry, love” Mum whispered.

Laura Besley

Childhood friend. Shared bed, dreams. Got married. Discovered a stranger.

Mandira Pattnaik

we sailed amongst the unnamed latitudes trading words for home

William Davis

Fumble for glasses, lamp. Open door to crickets singing summer.

Jessica Klimesh

Explorar: Explore / Exploit – An isthmus in ink – In Brazil landlessness

Ruth Callaghan do Valle

He emptied drawers, dispatched belongings. Every space revealed her face.

Susy Churchill

In bulging bags of homemade food, I found her heart.

Linda Sejung Park

Blue Light. Human gone. Empty bowl. Cat affronted. Now alone.

Rita Lazaro

“Look,” said grandfather, “endless worlds await.” He opened the book.

Gunnar De Winter

Judges’ notes:

  • The quality was exceptionally high. From our longlist of 30, we had a hard time getting down to a shortlist of 10.
  • The winner and shortlisted entries all told a story. It didn’t matter whether this was a grand tale of adventure or a tiny snapshot of a moment; each one narrated a full story in 10 words.
  • The best stories adhered closely to the theme, but perhaps approached ‘discovery’ from a less obvious angle.
  • It was important not to waste any words. Some promising stories that made the longlist were dropped on the basis of a single word that felt forced or out of place.
  • Clever use of punctuation made some stories stand out. Breaking up the 10 words allowed them to go further.

‘The Burning Chambers’ by Kate Mosse

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Gripping plot. Fast-paced action. Lifelike characters. So what’s missing?

The Burning Chambers is an epic adventure that takes the reader to the heart of sixteenth-century France, a country in turmoil amidst the bloody Wars of Religion. Set primarily across three southern cities — Carcassonne, Toulouse and Puivert — the historical backdrop is painted vividly, showcasing the author’s extensive historical research and interest in her subject.

Mosse manages to convey the fear and uncertainty of a country ravaged by years of infighting by creating believable characters that bring the history to life. Particularly strong are her portraits of Vidal, a power-hungry Catholic priest, and his deranged mistress, Lady Bruyère.

At times, however, these characters can tip over into types. The formulaic, rather predictable plot is constructed along starkly divided oppositional lines and each character is included to fill a particular role. Moreover, in the closing scenes, Mosse relies a little too readily on unlikely coincidences to advance the plot to its dramatic denouement. This diminishes some of the vraisemblance she had earlier developed.

If I may allow myself to offer a piece of writing advice to an international bestselling author whose novels have been translated into thirty-seven languages, it is that she often overuses rhetorical questions. This becomes more noticeable as the story progresses. Presumably, Mosse’s intention in doing so is to increase the suspense, but this is not the effect: the constant questions frustrate the reader and slow our progress.

It is this sort of contrived technique that raises our awareness of the book’s formulaic structure and ultimately stops the reader from fully engaging with the text. Of course, all books are artificially constructed, but the best ones are those that are able to hide this and make you forget you are reading. The Burning Chambers doesn’t achieve this because the plot follows a predictable pattern and is engineered to progress through a series of unbelievable coincidences.

Despite these minor grievances, The Burning Chambers is a lively and addictive historical novel. It won’t be your book of the year, but is well worth a read.

Submit to Briefly Zine

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Briefly Zine is a literary journal seeking bold, succinct writing and photography. We publish writers and photographers from the UK and around the world. Free to submit… and we pay!

Submissions are OPEN NOW for ISSUE 14. Unthemed.

For the first time, we are offering feedback on submissions. Find out more here.

We’re looking for:

  • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • POEMS – up to 16 lines
  • STORIES – 6 to 300 words

Writing that blurs genres (prose poems, poetic prose, etc.) is welcome.

BRIEFLY RIGHT:

  1. Submit up to three pieces of your best brief writing via the correct online form:
  2. Include a short third-person bio (under 40 words). Please don’t feel any pressure with this – we choose our favourite photos, poems and stories, not the publication history of the author
  3. Please only submit previously unpublished work, i.e. nothing that has appeared in print or online (including on a personal website or social media)
  4. Simultaneous submissions are OK, but please please please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere
  5. Please wait for our reply before sending more work. If we publish your writing, please wait at least two issues before submitting again

BRIEFLY WRONG:

  1. We will not publish writing or photos that are sexist, racist, classist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or speciesist
  2. We are unlikely to be interested in gratuitous sex or violence
Submit Poems
Submit Stories
Submit Photos

Our response time is up to three months, though will usually be quicker.

There is no submission fee. There will never be a submission fee. Financial barriers should not stop people sharing their work.

We pay our writers as much as we can. Currently, this is not a lot. If you would like to help us pay more, please consider making a small donation.

By submitting to Briefly Zine, you are granting us first electronic rights. Copyright reverts to the author upon publication.

Expedited Response

Get a faster response and support our little literary space…

For Issue 14, donate £6 on our Ko-fi page to get a one-week guaranteed reply.

For the first time, we are also offering:

  • Short feedback on 1 poem or story for £10
  • Short feedback on 3 poems or stories for £20

**In the comments box when you make your donation on Ko-Fi, please tell us you are paying for an expedited response or feedback. Then submit your photography, poetry or prose in the normal way.

See full information here: https://ko-fi.com/brieflywrite

NOTE: We publish our favourite writing and photography. Whether or not you donate will have no impact on the outcome of your submission. We do, however, greatly appreciate any support. Every penny we receive is spent directly on the costs of running Briefly Write (i.e. website + paying writers).

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‘The House at the End of Hope Street’ by Menna van Praag

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Living rent-free in Cambridge for 99 days really would be magical.

Menna van Praag’s debut novel is an easy read: a heart-warming story about three dejected women who find hope in a magical house.

But the plot is far more nuanced than it might first seem. The various narrative strands are intricate and are interwoven effectively through regularly shifting viewpoints. Moreover, the characters are all vivid and complex, which makes their actions and reactions believable.

The fantastical elements are successfully integrated into the story. This is particularly the case with Alba’s ability to see the colours of words, a lovely idea that allows van Praag to paint some beautiful dialogue scenes.

Peggy, the “Fairy Godmother” of Hope Street, is an interesting character. Her personal intrigue highlights how those who devote their lives to others are at times the ones most in need of a helping hand.

The only thing that tempered my enjoyment of the novel was the number of typographical errors it contained. For a book that celebrates the beauty of writing, I found that the style didn’t always live up to these high aspirations. In fairness, this became less of an issue as the story progressed, which is testament to the powerful narratives.

This charming tale is surprisingly compelling. A much-needed distraction in dark times.