Sophia Argyris

Submissions are now open for issue nine. The theme is Trespass: rights and wrongs; encroachment and colonisation; faults and forgiveness. Please see the website (link in bio) for information and guidelines. Window closes August 31st. 🕊 xx

Congratulations 💞 that's brilliant news

Our Black Bough book of the month by Sophia Argyris - ‘Heronless’ @sophiaargyris.bsky.social

Review by @victoriaspires.bsky.social 🤩

www.blackboughpoetry.com/book-reviews...

I wonder if Victoria Moul, mentioned in here, might be part of the reason for this review. Because I believe she writes reviews for TLS

My contributor's copy of @abridgedmagazine.bsky.social arrived and it is very cool

''Heronless' sees her tackle big themes with her characteristically exacting language and emotional intelligence.'

Victoria Spires @victoriaspires.bsky.social inspires with her review of Sophia Argyris's 'Heronless.
@sophiaargyris.bsky.social

www.blackboughpoetry.com/book-reviews...

Thank you so much @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social and the brilliant @victoriaspires.bsky.social for this review of Heronless (Palewell Press).

"I find it hard to liken Argyris’ work to that of another poet – her voice is sober, curious, precise and non-judgmental."

Belated happy birthday! Xx

Thank you ☺️

I have two poems in this issue of @abridgedmagazine.bsky.social magazine, a home for art and experimental poetry. You can get a free copy at the link below!

Look what just arrived! The new Abridged Umbra Sumus issue! See you at @ccadld.bsky.social on Saturday night!

Our donations button is working again if you can spare Abridged a penny or two. All of our magazines and projects are free but we do have costs. You can donate (or get some back issues) here: www.abridged.zone/obtaining-ab... Thanks!

We never stop. We'll be @ccadld.bsky.social on the 28th June for the launch of our Umbra Sumus issue. Here's a sneak peak of some of it's art by @aideenbarry.bsky.social Locky Morris and Louise Manifold. More news soon. www.abridged.zone #poetry #poetrymagazine #ireland #northernireland

Can't wait to see this issue ❤️

From ‘In Response to Your Latest E-mail’ by Sophia Argyris @sophiaargyris.bsky.social

read the full poem at www.echepoetry.co.uk/one

Our theme is BIOPHILIA over at the winged moon and we have made a few tiles to lay it all out for you 🪾

Lovely to be included in issue one of Eche Poetry! There are so many great poems in there ❤️

A book cover with a pale blue background. At the top, the title Undercurrents is written in dark blue serif font, with the author’s name, Richard Skinner, beneath it in a smaller, bright orange serif font. The central artwork is an abstract geometric composition in shades of blue, orange, pink, and white, evoking the shapes of musical instruments like a guitar, trombone, and tambourine, intertwined with circles and angular forms. At the bottom, the publisher’s name, Broken Sleep Books, appears in small pink serif text

The Narrative Triangle In every text, there is a set of three relationships – that between the narrator and character, between character and the reader, and between the reader and the narrator. According to whichever one of those three relationships you wish to highlight, you will have to use your narrator in different ways and to different degrees. So, if you want the closest possible relationship between character and your reader, you will have to use your narrator like a stenographer – someone present in the story-world whose sole job is to relay to the reader what the characters say and do. The narrator-as-stenographer has no voice of their own, they offer no opinions or value judgements on any of those words or actions, they are just silent recorders.

The early short stories by Hemingway that feature a character called Nick Adams are a good example of this kind of role for the narrator. In story after story, we see Nick Adams go hunting, or fishing, putting up a tent and taking it down the next morning. We are offered no commentary on any of this by the narrator – the stories are pure transcripts of word and action. If we want to know what Nick Adams is thinking or how he feels, we will have to infer it for ourselves purely from what Nick Adams says and does. In this type of narration, we have direct, first-hand access to what the characters say and do. There is no ‘interiority’. This is ‘showing’ at its purest – so stripped down and without any narratorial comment, Hemingway’s early stories could almost read like a film scripts. Dashiel Hammet’s stories and novels are another good example. Acting purely as a pane of glass, the narrator-as-stenographer is nowhere to be seen or heard. A good, more recent example of this style of narration is John William’s fine novel Stoner. At some point, however, the narrator may pierce the body of a character and enter their hearts and minds, revealing to the reader what the character is feeling and thinking. This could be done only occasionally, and very briefly, via ‘free indirect style’, those moments when the narrator climbs inside the head of a character and allows us to hear what they are thinking. Take this extract from Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway: He dropped her hand. Their marriage was over, he thought, with agony, with relief. The rope was cut; he mounted; he was free, as it was decreed that he, Septimus, the lord of men, should be free, alone (since his wife had thrown away her wedding ring; since she had left him), he, Septimus, was alone, called forth in advance of the mass of men to hear the truth, to learn the meaning, which now at last, after all the toils of civilization – Greeks, Romans, Shakespeare, Darwin, and now himself – was to be given whole to…

PREORDER (31.07.2025, @richardnskinner.bsky.social):

Richard Skinner’s Undercurrents is a hybrid essay collection that brings together literary criticism, memoir, cultural commentary, and music writing in a loose, associative structure.

www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page...

Congratulations! And thank you for sharing about your previous submissions, it's always encouraging to hear this kind of thing.

We are over the moon to share the 13 shortlist poets for the Poetry Wales Award 2024-25, sponsored by Literature Wales and judged by Jeremy Dixon.

You can read the full collection on our website: poetrywales.co.uk/poetry-wales...
Stay tuned for information about our online Awarding Ceremony.

Thank you @atriumpoetry.bsky.social 🐕🐕

A silent squawk

It's possible to be both heronful and heronless at the same time.

I have a last few copies of Heronless left. If anyone would like one please send me a message. You can also buy one from Palewell Press directly.

Thanks so much to everyone who has already bought Heronles 💕

Psst.
As many of you’ll know, I’m the lead editor for Clarion Poetry Quarterly.
Issue 4 is launching in May, but this is a heads-up to all you poets:

CLARION 5 submissions are open!

Find out more at clarionpoetry.com/submissions

😒

Ink Sweat & Tears are here. Give them a follow, go on. @inksweatandtears.co.uk

If you ever ask yourself can poetry help people, or help the world, here is your chance to make some difference by buying a book of poems written in Gaza during genocide. All profits go directly to the poet and her family. Order from @outspokenpress.bsky.social

Thanks so much Laura x

Now that Heronless is fully launched I'm very happy to say that my next pamphlet, Blood Tundra, will be published by the brilliant @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social in 2026. I'm excited to work with Aaron and the team. More news on this next year.

A few photos from last night's launch of Heronless. Thank you @dronealoneprods.bsky.social @benedictan.bsky.social and Alan Buckley, and everyone who came along