NOVELS PUBLISHED
Fire on the Island – Timothy Jay Smith
France
From a young age, Timothy Jay Smith developed a ceaseless wanderlust that’s taken him around the world many times. En route, he found the characters that people his work. Polish cops and Greek fishermen, mercenaries and arms dealers, child prostitutes and wannabe terrorists: he hung with them all in an unparalleled international career that saw him smuggle banned plays from behind the Iron Curtain, maneuver through Occupied Territories, represent the U.S. at the highest levels of foreign governments, and stowaway aboard a ‘devil’s barge’ for a three-day crossing from Cabo Verde that landed him in an African jail. Tim brings the same energy to his writing. As a result, he’s won top honors for his novels, screenplays and stage plays. Istanbul Crossing (2024) won the Next Generation Book Awards (LGBTQ category) and the Page Turner’s Writing Award. The Fourth Courier (2020) was a Finalist in the Lambda Literary Awards and A Vision of Angels (2013) won the Paris Prize for Fiction. Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of 2012’s Best Books. His stage plays and screenplays have also won or placed in multiple international competitions.
The Body In Zeller’s Barn – Arian Harandi
USA
Arian Harandi was born in Iran and moved to Southern California at the age of nine. He earned his BFA in Film Production from Chapman University and briefly ventured into the indie film world before realizing that writing books is far cheaper and requires significantly fewer people. The Body in Zeller’s Barn is his debut novel — the product of year(s) spent writing every day, talking to himself in empty rooms, and trying to strike the right balance between darkness and wit. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and doggy.
More Lies – Richard James Allen
Australia
Richard James Allen is an Australian poet, filmmaker and performer, based in Sydney on unceded Gadigal lands. A First-Class Honours graduate from Sydney University, he won the Chancellor’s Award for best doctoral thesis at the University of Technology, Sydney. A founder and co-artistic director with Karen Pearlman of the multi-award-winning Physical TV Company, his work has been screened, broadcast, published and presented on six continents. Richard’s thirteenth book, Text Messages from the Universe (Flying Island Books, 2023), was a finalist for three international awards. A film adaptation won six awards and was nominated for Best Narrative Feature Film at the ATOM Awards. In an earlier incarnation, his novel, More Lies (Interactive Publications), was shortlisted for the Griffin Award for New Australian Playwriting. An audiobook version had its world premiere at the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, before releasing globally on Spotify, Audible, and other platforms, in 2025.
Play me! – Charles Harris
United Kingdom
Once Upon a Tarot Card – Jaelen Davis
United Kingdom
After acquiring a Tarot deck at a young age, Jaelen embarked upon a life-long fascination with the cards – but when she went to college, it was to follow a dream of working with horses. However, after being tossed over dozens of jumps and failing her dressage tests, (she was never destined for the Olympics) she rethought these career goals and instead switched to literature, and art. Painting horses was preferable to falling off them, and several of her sculptures and woodcarvings were accepted by the British Society of Equestrian Artists for their annual exhibitions. Following graduation she worked in a bookshop, which rekindled her interest in writing – and her Tarot cards often found a way into the plot. She attended creative writing classes in order to hone her craft, and this was when one series of short stories began to evolve into a longer tale. It took a little over ten years, but completing Once Upon a Tarot Card came with an excuse to paint yet another horse… but this time, to illustrate the cover of her own book. Jaelen resides in North London, where she writes and is still painting … cats, at the moment.
Pins, Pains and Promises – Dr Manisha T Kundnani
India
Dr. Manisha Takhtani Kundnani is a distinguished gynecologist and infertility specialist, celebrated for her compassionate patient care and clinical excellence. A gold medalist in her field, she has contributed extensively to medical literature, authoring numerous scientific chapters and serving as an editor for several acclaimed medical books. She recently received an IVF Excellence Award, recognising her commitment to evidence-based practice, patient-centred care, and consistent clinical outcomes.
Her novel – Pins, Pains and Promises, marks her debut in fiction. The novel delves into the silent emotional struggles surrounding infertility — the strain it places on relationships, the unspoken fears, and the resilience that slowly rebuilds hope. Drawing deeply from her experiences with patients and the intimate journeys she witnesses in her practice, she brings authenticity, empathy, and nuance to her storytelling. This novel is her tribute to the countless stories she has witnessed in her practice, told with empathy, honesty, and hope. Outside her medical and literary life, Dr. Kundnani is a budding violinist and a passionate folk art painter. She believes that creativity- whether through music, colour, or words – enriches her understanding of human emotion and allows her to connect more meaningfully with her patients and readers alike.
Foreign Attachments – Roslyn McFarland
Australia
Roslyn McFarland is a fiction writer, poet and essayist, living in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, on the traditional lands of the Darug and Gandangara peoples. Having spent a great deal of her time in France and as a lover of the arts, she was naturally drawn to the colourful life of the Australian WWII artist, Stella Bowen. The result is Foreign Attachments, her well-received second novel, published late 2024. Her first novel, All the Lives We’ve Lived was also published by Ginninderra Press in 2019. While her novella, The Privacy of Art, was a Bronze Medal Winner in 2016 Global ebook Awards. Roslyn has an MA in Creative Writing from UTS, and her poems, short stories, essays and reviews have appeared in various print and online platforms. While working for many years as a secondary teacher, she co-wrote and edited the poetry section of a series of successful HSC English Course books. She is currently working on a suite of short stories.
Making A Moveable Feast – Paul W. B. Marsden
Wales
Husband to Elena and dad to three grown up kids who make me so proud. I work in construction but I’m burning passion is being a writer. I have enjoyed a varied career as an anti-war member of parliament, director of an animal charity, security consultant, quality management professional and I dally in IT and AI. I have published technical construction book, local history books, poems, aphorisms and a literary history book – Entente Cordiale of 20 Writers in the 19th century. I am absolutely delighted and honoured to be a finalist in the Eyelands Book Awards with Darkness in 1984 about the Christmas meeting, in 1945, between Arthur Koestler and George Orwell in North Wales that influenced his writing of 1984. Recently I finished my next manuscript, Making A Moveable Feast, on the day to day conversations, in the first months of 1922 in Paris, between Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway that shaped his unique writing style. It is a story about the impact of the women of the era, not least, Hadley Richardson. I am now planning my next ‘writers’ book
NOVELS UNPUBLISHED
Kingdom of Slaves – Mahboobeh Zare
Iran
Mahboobeh Zare is an Iranian writer, poet, and literary mentor with a PhD in Comparative Interpretation. Over the past decades, she has authored more than sixty four published books in Persian literature, spanning fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her work reflects a deep commitment to exploring the human condition through social themes, while also embracing the timeless subject of love, which has become a central focus in her recent writing. At forty six, Mahboobeh balances her prolific literary career with her role as a mother to a teenage daughter, drawing inspiration from both family life and the broader cultural landscape of her country. She views her mission in life as being a small reflection of divine kindness, striving to bring compassion and love into the lives of her readers. Her short stories and novels often highlight social realities, weaving together philosophical insight with emotional resonance. As a mentor, she has guided aspiring writers and poets, encouraging them to find their authentic voices and contribute meaningfully to literature. Mahboobeh’s vision is to create works that not only entertain but also inspire empathy, hope, and a deeper understanding of humanity. Through her writing, she seeks to connect hearts across generations and cultures.
Gandhi Colony – Vikram Kapur
India
Vikram Kapur has published three novels—The Assassinations, The Wages of Life and Time Is a Fire. His short stories and essays have appeared in World Literature Today, Litro, Beloit Fiction Journal, The Hong Kong Review, Mekong Review, Ambit, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Berlin Quarterly, Huffington Post, The Hindu Literary Review, The Times of India, Himal Southasian, and other publications. His short stories have been recognised in several international competitions which include, among others, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award, and the Fish International Short Story Prize. He has held writing residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, the Canserrat Arts Center, and Under the Volcano. He has a PhD in creative and critical writing from the University of East Anglia where he received the India-Africa bursary. He is currently a professor of English at the Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence in India. His website is www.vikramkapur.com.
Cleanse Me with Pleasure – Aleksandra Binkowska
Poland
I’m Aleksandra Binkowska and I’m a translator, based in Poland. I’m an English Studies graduate and a holder of an MA in linguistics. Writing stories, both short and long, in English and in Polish, has been my hobby for more than 10 years now. I find my inspiration in literature, music and video games as well as in the people I meet every day. Evening is my favourite time to write, as it allows me to fully immerse myself into the worlds and characters I want to create. My other interests include Greek mythology, which is yet another great source of my inspiration, and a healthy lifestyle.
The Art of Surviving in a Glass of Water – Raluca Comanelea
USA
Raluca Comanelea is a woman writer born in Brasov, Romania, writing from her desert home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her fiction has appeared in venues such as Reflex Fiction and Secret Press, among others, and in print anthologies from Reflex Press, Quillskeepers Press, and Strange Days Books. Her novellas and short stories have won finalist titles and prizes with Newfound Prose Prize, Eyelands Book Awards, Twist and Twain Short Story First Prize, and Leicester Writes Short Story Prize. Raluca is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University’s Sena Jeter Naslund–Mann School of Writing. You can connect with Raluca at http://www.ralucacomanelea.com.
Sette: A Novel – Oyéshiku Carr
USA
Oyéshiku Carr is an American of Liberian descent, who was raised in Europe and Africa before migrating to the United States. He is currently earning his MFA at City College of New York and holds a PhD in Comparative Modern African Politics from Boston University, where he was both a Fulbright Scholar and an MLK Fellow. He lived in Eritrea on three occasions between 1994 and 2005 — before and during his doctoral research on nationalism and memory — and drew on both his own experiences and the stories of close friends who fled the regime. Oyé’s fiction and essays have appeared in The Threepenny Review (forthcoming Winter 2025), Dogwood (finalist for Dogwood’s Award in Fiction), Promethean, and The Research Handbook on Nationalism. He lives in New York with his wife. Sette is his first novel.
The Best of All Worlds – Ofir Oz
Israel
Ofir Oz is an award-winning Israeli-French author, blogger, and podcaster. His stories have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Short Story Project, London Independent Short Story Prize, Litbreak Magazine, Jewish Fiction, and many others. His second novel, The First Name (Pardes, 2014), earned him the Promising Writers Award from the Israel Ministry of Culture. His third novel, The Best of All Worlds (Afik 2020), has received critical acclaim in Israel since its publication in Hebrew and is now available in English translation. His fourth book will be published in May 2026 by Kinneret-Zmora.
The Father is Absent – Diamond Keener
USA
SHORT STORY PUBLISHED
A Fine Madness and Other Mad Stories – Jeffrey M. Feingold
USA
Jeffrey M. Feingold is a writer in Boston. His debut short story collection, The Black Hole Pastrami, published in 2023 (MFT Press), was followed shortly after by There Is No Death in Finding Nemo, a collection of stories featuring magical realism. Jeffrey’s stories have been nominated for the Pen America Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, the Pushcart Prize, and The Best American Short Stories; finalist for the Eyelands Book Awards in Greece; shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize; and winner of London’s Superlative literary journal annual short story prize. Jeffrey’s work appears in magazines, such as the international Intrepid Times, and in The Bark. Jeffrey’s work has also been published in anthologies, and by numerous literary reviews and journals, including The Pinch, Maudlin House, Wilderness House Literary Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and elsewhere. Jeffrey’s stories about family, about the tension between heritage versus assimilation, and about love, loss, regret, and forgiveness, reveal a sense of absurdity tempered by a love of people and their quirky ways. http://www.jeffreyfeingold.com
Tena tyaktena bhunjitha – Neha Srivastava
India
Award winning Director and writer.Neha has been awarded twice by the WorldFest Houston Film festival. She won the Platinum Remi Award for her script ‘Fairy Dress’. Director and, writer of short fiction films ‘Orange Sun’ ‘Game’, ‘Sabina’, ‘Toys’, ‘Menism’, she has also directed documentaries ‘Herbal Madam’, ‘Legends of laughter’ and ‘Ek pahari Ladki’. She has won several awards at various international festivals like best script – Jury, at the Dada Saheb Phalke film festival. Finalist at the Manhattan film festival, Quarter finalist at the Big Apple film festival, Los Angeles screenplay awards. Her script ‘’Fairy Dress’ won over 11 awards, ‘Sip from your coffee’ won 7 awards and ‘Daayen’, won 5 awards. Her new short film, ‘Mukti’ is in the post production stage. Neha Srivastava has a blend of 28 years of experience in the Advertising and Education industry, to her credit is the Spanish Museopalabra Award diploma, which she won against 35609 participants in their IVth edition. Her short stories have been featured in international anthologies. She studied screenwriting at Oxford under Carl Schoenfeld and is represented by Mania Entertainment LCC, USA. A teacher of underprivileged kids, a screenwriter, a soft skill trainer, director, she wears many hats but her favourite designation remains – Mom.
Tamiami trail – Jennifer Bannan
USA
Jennifer Bannan’s latest short story collection, Tamiami Trail: Miami Stories, was released October 2025. Her first collection, Inventing Victor, also from Carnegie Mellon University Press, was published in 2003. She has had stories in the Autumn House Press anthology, Keeping the Wolves at Bay, and in literary journals including the Kenyon Review online, ACM, Passages North, Chicago Quarterly Review, Exposition Review, Eclectica Magazine and more.
The Eunuch’s Daughter & Stories – Khanh Ha
USA
Award winning author Khanh Ha is a ten-time Pushcart nominee. He is the recipient of the Sand Hills Prize for Best Fiction, The Robert Watson Literary Prize, The Orison Anthology Award, The James Knudsen Prize, The C&R Press Fiction Prize, The EastOver Fiction Prize, The Blackwater Press Fiction Prize, The Gival Press Novel Award, The Cai Emmons Fiction Award, The Unleash Creatives Fiction Prize, and The Next Generation INDIE Book Award.
The Planet Spins On Its Axis, Regardless – Kavita A. Jindal
U.S.A.
Kavita A. Jindal is an award-winning Indian-British author who writes across genres. She explores traditional and contemporary cultures in her writing, across societies and political borders. Her novel Manual For A Decent Life won the Eastern Eye Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Rabindranath Tagore Prize. Her poetry publications include Patina, Raincheck and Raincheck Accepted. Her short story collection The Planet Spins On Its Axis, Regardless, now a finalist for an Eyelands Prize, is published by Serving House Books, USA. Kavita’s short stories and poems have appeared in anthologies and literary journals worldwide and been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Zee TV UK and European radio stations. Selected poems have been translated into Arabic, German, Italian, Punjabi, Romanian, Spanish and Ukrainian. Reviewers have said of her writing: witty and wry, with a steely heart and of the novel the books’ boldness, beauty and courage are utterly seductive. Kavita previously served as Senior Editor at Asia Literary Review. She has taught writing workshops in the UK and in Europe and has been invited to literary festivals around the world. She enjoys collaborating with other writers and artists across a range of projects. www.kavitajindal.com
Beneath a Darkening Sky – Judith Crow
Scotland
Judith was born in Orkney, grew up in Lincolnshire and now lives in the far north of Scotland. Her work draws inspiration from folklore, experience and the natural world. The Backwater, Judith’s debut book, was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and her YA novel Honour’s Rest was listed as a “top book for teens” in The Scotsman. Honour’s Rest and The Folly at Raighvan Park (a Gothic Horror novella) were also finalists in the Eyelands Book Prize.
When she isn’t writing, Judith loves her work as an English teacher. She sometimes finds that writing gets usurped by crafting, music, and being a generally doting spaniel owner.
So Many Shapes and Sizes: Stories (Small, Medium, and Large) – John Sheirer
USA
SHORT STORY UNPUBLISHED
The Noisy Quietude of Mikhail Gorky and other stories- Ken Pisani
USA
Ken Pisani is an Emmy-nominated producer and screenwriter, novelist, playwright, and comic book creator. (Ken needs to learn how to focus.) His Los Angeles Times best-selling debut novel “AMP’D,” published by St. Martin’s Press, was runner-up for the Thurber Prize for American Humor and optioned for television. “AMP’D” also won the Grand Prize at the 2022 Eyelands Book Awards. Ken is also the writer-creator of the Geekie Award-winning sci-fi graphic novel “COLONUS,” published by Dark Horse Comics, and the quirky murder mystery novella “4 Corners,” also optioned for TV. Ken’s short fiction was recently shortlisted for the HG Wells Prize, and he’s contributed to The Saturday Evening Post, The Louisville Review, Salon, Publishers Weekly, Huffington Post, Literary Hub, Carve, American Writers Review, and elsewhere, as well as the anthology “More Tonto Short Stories,” published in the U.S. and U.K. Ken recently completed a new novel, “Days Are Here Again,” and is working on a variety of film and TV projects and a collection of short stories. kenpisani.com
The House of Genyo and other stories – Terry Watada
Canada
Terry Watada is a writer living in Toronto, Canada. He has three novels, five poetry books and a short story collection in print. His fourth novel, Hiroshima Bomb Money (NeWest Press), is due for publication in 2024. His sixth poetry collection, The Mask (Mawenzi House), is due by the end of 2023. He also has written a play for the Lighthouse Summer Theatre Festival, Port Dover, Canada. Sakura : the Last Cherry Blossom Festival will premiere in the summer of 2025. He is very happy that The House of Genyo, his second short story collection, is a finalist in the Eyelands International competition.
Life Lines (and Other Stories) – Dreena Collins
Channel Islands
The man without a shadow – Gjore Gjelev
N.Macedonia
Gjore Gjelev is a contemporary writer from N. Macedonia, known for his lyrical verses, subtle prose, and his ability to weave stories of everyday people and their emotional landscapes with broader existential themes. Born in Veles, he now lives and works in Skopje. He holds a degree in system software engineering and works professionally in that field. Gjelev established himself through poetry and short prose. He has published three poetry collections “Lyrical from Shakespearean Street,” “The Weight of the Second Step,” and “Love Notebook”, all distinguished by their emotional clarity, sensitivity, and modern poetic expression. His short story collection, “The Man Without a Shadow,” further showcases his capabilities for crafting intimate, psychologically nuanced narratives. Beyond writing, Gjelev is also active in the visual arts. He practices Chinese calligraphy and has held a solo exhibition in Veles, presenting 30 works in various scripts that highlight the breadth of his creative expression.
The Defect of Existing – Fabiana Elisa Martínez
USA
Fabiana Elisa Martínez is a linguist, a language teacher, and a writer. She speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian. She is the author of the short story collections 12 Random Words and Conquered by Fog, the grammar book Spanish 360 with Fabiana. Other short stories of hers have been published in Rigorous Magazine, The Closed Eye Open, Ponder Review, Hindsight Magazine, The Good Life Review, The Halcyone, Rhodora Magazine, Mediterranean Poetry, The Writers and Readers Magazine, Automatic Pilot, Lusitania, Heartland Society of Women Writers, and the anthology Writers of Tomorrow. She is currently working on her first novel.
I Can See It in Your Eyes – Javier R. Abella
USA
Javier R. Abella earned his degree in History from the Central University of Venezuela in 2012. He served as a professor at his alma mater, where he taught the seminar “Laughter and Madness in the Middle Ages.” Javier’s literary voice is shaped by a lifelong admiration for Argentine masters Julio Cortázar and Jorge Luis Borges. Although he has been filling notebooks with short stories since the late 1990s, this entry marks a shift from private writing to public submission. He currently works in the education sector and resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
At Sea – Charlotte Beck
Canada
HISTORICAL PUBLISHED
The Fastest Girl on Earth – Lisa Brace
United Kingdom
Lisa Brace is an award-winning author, who combines penning novels with running her own PR business in the beautiful surroundings of West Sussex, UK. She writes historical fiction, romantic fiction, and co-writes The Ruby Baker cosy crime series with fellow author D.E. White. Her second book, SWIM, a historical fiction novel was runner up as Historical Novel of the Year 2024 (Eyelands Book Awards), and finalist in Best Historical Fiction and Best General Fiction in the New Generation Indie Book Awards. She’s currently writing her third historical novel.
Beyond the black gate – Mark JF Hudson
United Kingdom
Alongside writing short stories and reviews, Mark has volunteered in various charities including mentoring people coming out of prison and working in a community of people with learning disabilities. In his working life, Mark Hudson worked as an editor in the Economist Intelligence Unit before later co-founding a digital-government research and conferencing company. Married and living in Dorset, UK, Mark is also a sculptor in stone. Beyond the Black Gate is his debut novel.
Cerca Trova – Tamer Ramadan
Egypt
A Noble cunning: the countess and the tower – Patricia Bernstein
USA
The Death Of Us All – Gregg Brandalise
USA
HISTORICAL UNPUBLISHED
A Funny Thing (about Old Man Drought) – Steve Hawe
Australia
Steve Hawe wore many hats in the outback. His ex trains sheepdogs and dreams of owning Babe. Kate – youngest nestling – paints and trawls op-shops. Steve’s worst kept secrets are his love of metaphor, Phantom comics and paperback westerns. When he’s not scoffing sardine toasties, he picks and sings (to everyone’s horror) and tests the bounds of believability with subs to lit mags and writing prizes. With some success. Lately, he skips between a memoir trilogy called ‘Of Hobbled Horses and Cicatrices’, and the framework for a zany climate-change novel. At 67, he’s not fossilized (enough) to be unaware of online skulduggery (won’t divulge his novel’s name) or that he should hang onto those hats.
The Pinioned Bird – Tong Ge
Canada
Born and raised in China, Tong Ge came to Canada in the late 1980s as an international student, earning a Master of Science degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1992. Since 2012, she has written under both her real name and the pen name Tong Ge, publishing poetry, prose, and short stories in English and Chinese across North America, England, Mainland China and Taiwan. Her debut novel, The House Filler, was published in Canada in 2023. It is a finalist for the 2023 Eyelands Book Awards for historical fiction and Memoir; the 2024 Canadian Book Club Awards for Fiction; the 2025 Page Turner Phoenix Award; and the 2025 International Book Awards for Historical Fiction and Multicultural Fiction. It has won the 2024 Independent Press Award for New Fiction, the 2025 National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) Award for Literary Fiction, the 2025 Maxy Book Award for Historical & Adventure Fiction, the 2025 Storytrade Book Awards for Historical and Literary Fiction, and Second Place in the 2025 BookFest Award for Literary Fiction and Historical Fiction.
The Grand Master – Randal Moore
USA
Randall Moore hails from Boise, Idaho after living most of his life in Southern California. After a decades-long hiatus, he returned to fiction in 2013, and to date has completed 33 novels. He’s a rabid reader and lover of history, and peppers his tales with historical references, striving to make the details as historically accurate and pertinent as possible. While he has extensive writing experience, from poetry, personal journals, newspaper articles, songwriting, and advertising copywriting, fiction has become his mainstay. He’s self-published 20 novels, published another with Atmosphere Press, and is working on his 32nd and 33rd. His novel The Brothers Tremaine received the Regal Summit Award for Historical Fiction in 2023, and in 2022 his novel The Merchant, the Janissary and the Corsair was a finalist for the Eyelands Book Awards. He published a weekly column on wine for a daily newspaper in the 1990s, and was a contributing editor for The Underground Wine Journal. For more information please visit his website at randallmoorefiction.com.
Love is for the Brave – Sophie Neville
United Kingdom
An award-winning British writer, Sophie Neville has a degree in anthropology and a background in TV production. After producing an INSET series and writing her own docu-dramas for BBC TV, she set up wildlife films in southern Africa. “My family moved to Tanganyika in 1919. After appearing in movies as a girl, I began working for the BBC on flagship dramas such as Doctor Who and EastEnders, but directed my first documentary for Channel 4 whilst driving from London to Johannesburg. After setting up wildlife films in Botswana, Namibia and the Cape, Sophie began collecting amusing true life stories. Returning to the UK in 2004, she wrote feature articles, made contributions to seven non-fiction books and brought out three memoirs: ‘Funnily Enough’, ‘Ride the Wings of Morning’ and ‘The Secrets of a Filming Swallows & Amazons’. The Lutterworth Press now publish this filmography as ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’. “I was commissioned to write my first screenplay by Dashwood Films, have completed a second, and have outlines for more.” Sophie now has two historical novels ready for publication. Both are set in East Africa and include amusing anecdotes she collected whilst volunteering on aid projects in the region.https://sophieneville.net
The Other Life of Mary English – GD Harper
United Kingdom
GD Harper became a full-time author in 2016. He has written three psychological thrillers, Love’s Long Road, A Friend in Deed and Silent Money, and two historical novels, The Maids of Biddenden and Arden. The Maids of Biddenden was the winner in the historical fiction category of the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest international awards program for indie authors and independent publishers, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Selfies Award at the London Book Fair. Arden was placed third in the 2024 Yeovil International Literary Prize. He has also been longlisted or shortlisted for fifteen other awards. His books have had over one million page reads on Kindle Unlimited, been number one most downloaded e-book on Amazon UK, number three Amazon worldwide, and garnered over two thousand reviews and ratings on Amazon and Goodreads, average rating 4.4. He lives in East Sussex and, when not writing, can be found wild camping in the Scottish mountains or in the mosh pit at live music events.
CHILDREN’S PUBLSHED
Life Lessons and Tales of Little MisFit (Book 3)-Susan Krup Grunin
Mulberry Seeds~A Novella: Stories of Youth and Innocence – Lisa-Behrens Smith,
USA
Lisa-Behrens Smith is an award-winning author of literary fiction and memoirs, and is an active member of her local and state writers’ groups. Her first novella began as a short story over 25 years ago when she entered the University of California, Santa Barbara. After two decades in a box, the book, set in the beloved places of her childhood, finally emerged as a tribute to her sister. Lisa-Behrens has spent nearly two decades teaching English, literature, and history as a Texas, California, and international educator. She craves adventures and exploring the world, whether on a tractor or a zip line. She currently shares her life with her husband of 47 years, their sweet house cat Midget, and her favorite ferals, Wiener and Un Ojo. Whether she is teaching, writing, or trying the unexpected, she lives and proves that relevance, resilience, and reinvention know no age. Her life—and her work—speak to readers of all generations.
Loukas & Lydia and the Secret of the Disk – A.F. Helios
USA
A.F. Helios writes adventures for curious kids—the kind of stories where science, history, and wild ideas all end up in the same room. His debut novel, Loukas & Lydia and the Secret of the Disk, is the first in a series that looks at ancient myths with evidence, engineering, and a lot of heart. As a composer, A.F. Helios writes music for media and video games, so he can’t help building scenes the way he builds a score: in little beats, long pauses, and the occasional sudden crash. He likes stories that feel as if you could almost step inside them—full of clues, small puzzles, and “what if?” questions. At home, the first people to hear new chapters are his children, who have no problem saying, “this part is boring” or “read that again.” When he isn’t sending Loukas and Lydia into trouble, Helios is usually cooking with his family, fiddling with logic puzzles, or looking at maps and museum photos, wondering what might quietly slip into the next book. Loukas & Lydia and the Secret of the Disk is his first published novel and the starting point for a series of myth-bending journeys for young readers.
Pandora’s Choice Subtitle: The Oracle Must Be Obeyed – E.A. Dickinson
U.S.A
My family “roots” are deep in British, French, Irish and Scandinavian bloodlines – all survivors of their, often treacherous, immigration to America from 1620 to 1920. My research of their stories, always wondering what motivated -or forced- them to leave the known for the unknown, fueled my self-study of the historical events that propelled them on their great adventures. My new writing life reflects my persistent curiosity – just as my life as a dance educator, a DNA lab technician, and a middle school science teacher positioned me to inspire my students to gather knowledge and sensory experiences to fuel their imagination and investigate the “origins of everything”. As an American, at a time of real threats to our founding democratic principles, I am deeply concerned that young minds have the opportunity to read world history in a context which can be authenticated, but also connects with them emotionally. My first YA historical novel offers them over forty illustrations of museum artifacts alongside the migration story of a Greek teenager in 650 BC. Like Pandora, I want them to have hope, and belief in the power of writing, freedom of speech and religion, and compassion for cultures beyond their own in space and time.
Ordell’s Constellation – J. C. Cole
U.S.A
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, J. C. Cole spent most of his young adult life dearly holding on to the art and music scenes of Seattle, Washington. After finishing his degrees, he worked as a school teacher, focusing on helping kids and families find their path in life. He met his beautiful wife and mother to their future two sons in the most unlikely of circumstances. They quickly married, and with nothing but two suitcases and the clothes on his back, he flew to Amsterdam to be with her. It was there where he took on the project to write his first book “Beginnings,” a short-story anthology, followed by an interactive children’s book and an award winning memoir. He has now returned back with his family to the PNW where he released his new novel titled, “Leaving Seattle.” He has recently released a young adult Science Fiction novel titled “Ordell’s Constellation.” Cole’s writing has been both awarded and published in several literary magazines to include, Writer’s Workshop, Vine Leaves Press, La Piccoletta Barca, Metaworker, the 50 Years of / instagram : @JCCOLEBOOKS
CHILDREN’S UNPUBLSHED
Flora’s Flock and Other Stories to Read Aloud – Mike Mesterton-Gibbons
United Kingdom
Mike Mesterton-Gibbons is a Professor Emeritus at Florida State University and the author of several books on applied mathematics. After 40 years in Florida, he returned to his native England in 2022, and now lives in York. In addition to children’s stories, he regularly writes poetry, mainly light verse with an emphasis on acrostic sonnets and poems in dimeter. In 2020, he won the Adult Category of the Southern Shakespeare Company’s annual Sonnet Contest. His later poems have appeared in Light, Lighten Up Online, Oddball Magazine, WestWard Quarterly and several other journals.
Starfish and Tide: A Journey Through Grief Toward Light – Dinah Gay-Dorviul
U.S.A
DJ Kramer – Pod 31
U.S.A
D.J. Kramer began writing as soon as she could hold a pencil and published poetry in local newspapers while still in grade school. Growing up in Queens, New York, she always had a journal nearby and dabbled in playwriting during a brief stint as an actress, and in songwriting during an even briefer stint as a singer. While earning her degree in American Studies at Columbia University, she served as the poetry editor for the Columbia Observer. Following graduation, she assisted in the writing and editing of several screenplays for a wealthy eccentric with dreams of grandeur. Since trading the city streets for sunny Sarasota, FL, along with her husband, two children, two dogs, and a ball python named Rosie, she continues to write novels and short stories. While currently working on Pod 31’s sequel, Beyond the Pod, she enjoys sharing inspiring personal stories about breaking negative life cycles on her blog http://www.djkramerwrites.com.
Coco in the Land of the Heart – Toru Matsumoto
Japan
Pinkurella și Spotless: The Tale of an Unusual Friendship – Gabriela Dimache
United Kingdom
Gabi is an engineer and writer based in Washington, UK. After studying psychology for over a year, she shifted her focus to engineering, where she now blends technical installation with creative documentation. Her work often transforms daily routines and acts of resilience into poetic fragments, exploring autonomy, humor, and the quiet power of lived experience. She is currently completing her Level 3 engineering studies and preparing to advance to Level 5, while also nurturing her long-held dream of becoming a published author. Her children’s manuscript Pinkurella and Spotless: The Story of an Unusual Friendship reflects her interest in symbolic journeys and philosophical layers. She is also developing a new project, The Land of Lost Dreams, which she envisions as an even deeper exploration of imagination and meaning. Gabi delights in observing tennis rituals, cycling through challenging weather, and turning culinary boundaries into playful anecdotes. She sees writing as a way to synchronise inner and outer worlds, reframing breakdowns and ambiguity into creative beginnings.
POETRY PUBLISHED
Exits – Stephen C. Pollock
U.S.A.
Stephen C. Pollock is a poet, essayist, scholar, inventor, and author of the poetry collection Exits. The twenty-two poems in Exits were written and edited over a period of twenty years. Designing and formatting the book required an additional two years. Steve began scribbling poems on shirt cardboard at age nine. All of those early poems rhymed. (Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss was a huge influence!). Trained as a physician, eye surgeon, and neuro-ophthalmologist, Steve was recruited to Duke University as Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology in 1987. He ultimately achieved a rank of Associate Professor with tenure and has published 30 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in the medical literature. As a result of his lifelong penchant for designing novel devices, Steve holds U.S. Patent 4,477,158, Lens System for Variable Refraction. He also designed an instrument used to biopsy inaccessible tumors in the brain and behind the eye. The gratification Steve derives from writing springs from a variety of sources: fascination with language; the whimsy of wordplay; the thrill associated with creating something utterly new; and awe at the infinite ways in which words, well chosen, can capture and intensify human experience.
Barefoot Poetess – Paris Rosemont
Australia
Paris Rosemont is a multi-award-winning Thai Australian poet, performer, educator, and author of Banana Girl (2023) and Barefoot Poetess (2025). Her books have received awards and accolades in Australia, Greece, UK and USA. Paris’s poetry has been published in a plethora of literary journals and anthologies including Australian Poetry Journal, Rabbit, Splinter, and Verge. She was the winner of the Matthew Rocca Poetry Prize 2025 (Verandah Literary Journal; an initiative of Deakin University), won First Prize in the Hammond House Publishing Origins Poetry Prize 2023 (UK), received a Best of the Net 2025 nomination from Sky Island Journal, Pushcart Prize 2026 nomination from Lost Blonde Literary, was shortlisted for the International Proverse Poetry Prize 2023-2025 (Hong Kong), and was awarded Honourable Mention in the Fish Poetry Prize 2025 (Ireland [Top 10 in the world, as selected by judge Billy Collins]).
Judging panels have included the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards 2025 and Sydney Fringe Festival 2024. Paris is an appointed member of the Randwick City Council Arts & Cultural Advisory Committee, book reviewer for Mascara Literary Journal, Guest Editor for Written Off Literary Journal, and sits on the Hunter Writers’ Centre Board. She may be found at http://www.parisrosemont.com
The Gift of Self – Vandana Bhasin
India
Vandana Bhasin is a writer, editor, artist, and Life Coach based in Gurugram, India. She is an ex-banker with a decade of corporate experience. Vandana is a published author and recipient of numerous prestigious awards for her literary contributions. Her works are published in over three dozen anthologies at the national and international levels. She enjoys expressing her views and emotions through poetry, short stories and articles focused on spiritual, inspirational, motivational and women-centric content. She has been the Editor of ALSphere Magazine since February 2022 (A monthly online magazine of the Asian Literary Society (ALS) aimed at promoting literature, art and culture). Her book, “The Gift of Self”, is an assortment of verses that reflect her insights as she embraced spirituality to understand the purpose and meaning of life, our connect with the Universe, and what truly is “self”. She has been a participant in the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) for the last nine years, and has also been hosting the same for the last four years in the ALS community, garnering an active engagement of about 100 writers writing to her prompts every day for a month.
What Trammels the Heart – Kelly Fordon
U.S.A.
Kelly Fordon is the host of the podcast, “Let’s Deconstruct a Story.” She has published two award-winning short story collections, I Have the Answer (2020) and Garden for the Blind (2015). Her second poetry collection, What Trammels the Heart, was published in June 2025, and her first poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, in 2019. Her poetry chapbook, The Witness (2016), won the Eric Hoffer Award for the Chapbook and was a Finalist for the Grand Prize. Her work has appeared in The Kenyon Review Online, The Boston Review, The Florida Review, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Rattle, and The Saturday Evening Post, among others. She lives in Detroit.
Seang (Hungering) – Anne Casey
Australia
Originally from Ireland and living in Australia, Anne Casey is an internationally awarded poet/writer and author of six poetry books. Anne has worked for 30 years as a journalist, magazine editor, media communications director, academic and legal author, holding senior positions in government and the private sector. Her writing is widely published and anthologised, ranking in The Irish Times’ Most Read. Her recent awards include the American Association of Australasian Literary Studies Poetry Prize, American Writers Review Prize, Henry Lawson Poetry Prize and iWoman Global Award for Literature. President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins described Anne’s most recent poetry collection, Seang (Hungering) as “making an important contribution to a vital conversation on hunger, migration and displacement”. This book, together with her doctoral thesis outlining its research and writing, received a national award from the Deans and Directors of Creative Arts in Australasia for “significant contribution to the field of research/practice, showcasing national-level research outcomes with international esteem potential”. Anne has a PhD in archival poetry and poetics of resistance from the University of Technology Sydney where she teaches creative writing. She also holds a law degree from University College Dublin and tertiary qualifications in media communications. http://www.anne-casey.com @1annecasey
Just Give Me The Pills – Koraly Dimitriadis
Australia
Koraly Dimitriadis is an award-winning, best-selling poet, writer and actor who creates poetic film/theatre. She was born in Australia to Cypriot migrants and explores feminism through this lens. She is the author of poetry books Love & F–k Poems, long-listed for Poetry Book Awards UK (2024) also translated into Greek as Ποιήματα για αγάπη και για γαμήσι, She’s Not Normal (2024), Just Give Me The Pills (2018) winner best book of narrative poetry American Book Fest (2024), and the short story collection The Mother Must Die (2024). Koraly’s vast opinion articles/personal essays have been published globally, including The Age, Washington Post, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Today. Her award-winning poetry film Yiayia mou won first place at the Monologues and Poetry International Film Festival in California and was a finalist for International film festivals and poetry prizes and was televised on SBS Australia and Cyprus on PIK.
Map of the Self – Mona Dash
United Kingdom
Mona Dash is an award- winning author based in London. Her work includes her memoir A Roll of the Dice, a short story collection Let Us Look Elsewhere , a novel Untamed Heart and two collections of poetry,A Certain Way and Dawn Drops. Her third collection of poetry Map of the Self has just been published by Linen Press Uk. She has been published in various journals and listed in leading competitions.Her work has been presented on BBC Radio 4, included in Best British Short Stories 22, and published in more than thirty-five anthologies. Winner of Eyelands Award for Memoir, she has also been listed in other awards like Eastern Eye for Literature, Tagore Literary Prize, Novel London, to name some .She also works as a business leader in AI, for a global tech company. More details at www.monadash.net
Eject city – Jason L Morphew
USA
Jason Morphew started life in a mobile home in Pike County, Arkansas. His writing has appeared in The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Review of Books, Bellevue Literary Review, and other places. Reviewing his full-length debut dead boy, The Washington Post writes, “Morphew’s edginess and sharp intelligence make the poem pop.” A promotional video for his second full-lengthpoetry collection, Eject City, can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVA5Mv6z8sM&list=RDmVA5Mv6z8sM&start_radio=1
POETRY UNPUBLISHED
My Soul to Keep – Steven Bucher
USA
Steven Bucher is an active member of the Poetry Society of Virginia (PSV) and presently co-hosts a monthly Zoom program sponsored by the PSV featuring guest Virginia poets reading and discussing their poetry. Steven has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Toronto and lives with his wife and family in the Virginia Piedmont, which serves as the backdrop for much of his poetry. Steven’s first collection of poetry, We Stay a Brief Telling, was published by Propertius Press in 2021. His poetry also appears in the Tidings anthology by Anomaly Poetry, The Orchards Poetry Review, the Trouvaille Review, the Blue Heron Review as well as many other hardcopy and on-line journals. Steven maintains his online presence at brieftelling@substack.com.
Edges of Unease – Jane Bower
United Kingdom
Jane Bower is a retired teacher/adviser in art, drama, dance and writing to UK primary schools, and also taught in India, UAE, Armenia, and as associate lecturer at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Education. Jane’s book Thread and Thrum was a runner up in the 2021 Eyelands International Book Awards. She has written poems, songs, monologues and solo shows about the lives of remarkable people, including Phoebe, the Greek deaconess of the Bible. Jane was commissioned by the actress Dame Maureen Lipman to write a play about the lives of two actresses, which they performed together in 2010. Jane’s fifth solo show, which has its first performance in July 2026, is about the life of a WWII Land Army girl and writer, E.M. Barraud. Jane now works as a writer, speaker, actress, and vocal coach. She gives regular concerts with musicians, at some of which she illustrates live on-screen to the music.
Jane loves reading about people and the past, exploring and staying in small, unusual or historic properties, quirky architecture, creating with textiles, clay, dance and words, singing in large and small choirs, Bach, Beatles and Kate Bush, and being involved in the life of her church in Cambridge. http://www.janebower.com
Journey to the iron gate – Stamatia (Matina) Tsalouma
Greece
I came to Greece from Australia in 1991, with my husband and two young daughters. I had already had two poems published (one in my University magazine!) and was keen to write more. Little did I know that decades would pass before I could devote any serious time to my poetry. Nonetheless, I was discovering the great Greek poets in their own language, and that was thrilling enough. At first I was employed as an ESL teacher in Frondistiria, but as my own language skills began to improve, I found work as an Agronomist, which had been my occupation in Australia. I would always pine for my country of birth, yet life in Greece rewarded and enriched me in countless ways, and when I had the opportunity to write again, it was this country that mostly inspired my work – its culture and history, the Greek orthodox religion, the stunning beauty of the countryside, the people I met and their stories, even the difficulties I and many others encountered. Expressing this experience through the medium of English will always be the greatest challenge for me. My poems have been published in Hecate Journal, Southerly, Antipodes (a Global Journal of Australian/New Zealand Literature), Antipodes (Journal of the Greek Australian Cultural League), Live Encounters, Poetry for the Planet (Australian Conservation Foundation Anthology), and on the internet channel Creative Cowboy, under the name of Matina Doumos.
More or Less, and other poems – Craig Matheson
Canada
Ducks in Arizona -Nellie English
United Kingdom
Nellie English is a 36-year old adventurer, writer and mum (mostly a mum!). She grew up in Zimbabwe and spent many years in Spain before moving to Somerset, England. Nellie has tried her hand at many an odd job, from riding rickshaws in Barcelona to wrangling horses in Andalucia. Life with children has pushed her in new directions. Today, she works as a support worker and teaching assistant for a boy with a brain injury, and in a care home for the elderly. One day Nellie hopes to work as a paramedic and then settle down with equine therapy. You can read about her bumbling mishaps at her Substack handle: https://piratenell.substack.com/. When she is missing the wilderness of southern Africa or the sunshine of Spain, Nellie distracts herself with many interests and hobbies, ranging from Krav Maga, aerial silks, bouncing on the trampoline with her girls and hanging out with guinea pigs. Fortunately for the guinea pigs, not all at the same time! More than anything, Nellie loves her two daughters fiercely and to the ends of this beautiful earth.
SCI-FI/THRILLER/CRIME PUBLISHED
Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF diversion) – Bolat Ospanov
Kazakhstan
Ospanov Bolat Karimovich, am Kazakh-Naiman and was born in the village of Kokpekty in the Semipalatinsk region. I am a prose writer, winner of the International Literary Prize, Rome, Italy, 2024, and nominee for the International Literary Prize Lesnaya Polyana, Moscow, Russia, 2018; Doctor of Virology, PhD, Doctor of Medicine, member of the American Society for Microbiology. Awarded the Snake Bowl Medal by the Institute of Virology of the German Ministry of Defence. I have novels published in England, Italy, the USA, and Russia. Overall, my writing career began in 2015 when I wrote the novel The Empire of Kushluk Khan, 2015, followed by the novel My Great-Grandfather Naiman, 2017, followed by the novel Silicon Aksary, 2019, and finally the novel Coronavirus, 2022, which were published in Moscow, Russia. These novels were sent by the publisher to libraries and are stored in various libraries in Russia. The novel My Great-Grandfather Naiman was nominated for the Lesnaya Polyana International Literary Prize, Moscow, Russia, 2018. My novels are in English. The novel Eternal Hereditary Prince was published in Rome, Italy, 2023, and was sent by the publisher to libraries and is stored in various libraries in Italy and England. This novel, Eternal Hereditary Prince, won an international literary award in Rome, Italy, which was presented at the Giona Theatre, near the Vatican, in 2024. The next novel, Coronavirus Pandemic Syndrome, was published in London, England, in 2024. This novel was sent by the publisher to libraries and is stored in various libraries in the United Kingdom. The novel Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, Diversion was published in the United States in 2024.
Dive beyond eternity – Valeriya Salt
United Kingdom
Valeriya Salt is a sci-fi/thriller author from Sheffield (UK). She studied history and earned her Master’s degree in Art Expertise at St. Petersburg University of Culture and Arts. Born in Belarus, she’d lived for many years in different corners of Eastern Europe before settling down in the north of England. Her short stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in anthologies and magazines, were short-listed for Eyelands 6th Insternational Short Story contest in 2016 and won an Honourable Mention in the Writers of the Future Contest in 2022. Her debut novel Dive Beyond Eternity was published by Northodox Press (UK) in 2023.
Dirty Deeds – Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid
USA
Linda Reid is an award-winning author of mystery-thrillers and feature articles, a physician, and the parent of three wonderful young adults. She has written for the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times, Tribune International, American Film, Woman’s Day, Salon, and the HuffPost. She was a staff writer for the TV series Family Medical Center and is a member of the WGAW. As Y S Pascal, she wrote her sci-fi/fantasy The Zygan Emprise Trilogy; the first book, Renegades–Where Angels Fear to Tread, won a Mensa Sharp Writ Books Award, and the updated Trilogy received a Best Book Award and a Kirkus starred review. Her mystery thrillers, Dead Air and Devil Wind, co-written with Deborah Shlian as Linda Reid, won the Royal Palm Literary Awards for Best Suspense/Thriller. Linda is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society. Her latest award-winning thrillers Deep Waters and Dirty Deeds, co-written with Deborah Shlian, are available through Akeso Press. www.akesopress.com
Chaos Theory – Sylvia Leatham
Ireland
Sylvia Leatham is a writer from Dublin, Ireland. Her books seek out the human heart behind global issues or technological change, finding comedy in the everyday and romance in unusual places. While she has a passion for science, human relationships are what really fascinate her. Chaos Theory, her debut novel (published September 2025), is a quirky romantic comedy with a speculative fiction twist. It was the first in a two-book deal with Storm Publishing, brokered by Laura Bennett of the Liverpool Literary Agency. Prior to publication, Chaos Theory was shortlisted for The Letter Review manuscript prize in the US, and for the Watson Little Indie Novella novel prize in the UK. The first chapter was shortlisted for the Retreat West First Chapter competition. The book was also longlisted for the Mslexia novel prize and for the Novel London Literary prize.
More info: https://linktr.ee/SylviaLeatham
The Bright Highway – Nick Crawford
USA
Nick is a Southern California native and UC Irvine graduate (Zot Zot!). He began his career in advertising and film sales, writing and developing a wide variety of feature and TV scripts along the way. His love for filmmaking and photography have heavily influenced his approach to writing books, and his cherished friends, family, and mentors continue to make his world extremely bright. For more info: nick-crawford.com
Last of the autumn rain – Diana Louise Webb
USA
Diana Louise Webb is an educator, tutor, motivational speaker, freelance writer – and 10-time award-winning author, inclusive of two self-help books, The Butterfly Cometh and Elf Dust to Excellence. She is a resilient woman who unjustly spent 12.5 years in federal prison, successfully navigated a life-threatening disease, lost her best friend to suicide, and survived an attempted murder by an ex-boyfriend. Diana holds a Juris Doctorate and a Psychology degree. She lives in a modest home in rural Missouri where she shares quality time with her 90-year-old mother, a German child survivor of the 1944 Soviet invasion of Nazi Germany.
SCI-FI/THRILLER/CRIME UNPUBLISHED
Innocent Until – Jagdish Acharya
India
I am an advertising writer, having spent 15 years in creative leadership at a global advertising agency. Thereafter, I founded my own creative boutique agency based in Mumbai. I have several brand films and campaigns to my credit, and several of them have been well awarded. My early campaign for Dhara—an edible oil brand—has been part of almost every classic advertising reel and still spoofed to this day in India. Innocent Until is my debut novel. I’m especially drawn to stories of crime committed by ordinary people rather than hardened criminals. As a reader, I value unpredictability until the very end. My choice of plot and subject reflects this preference—flawed characters and moral ambiguities. Extensive research, including interactions with experts, has gone into the work to ensure the accuracy of the procedural and technical matters.
Erased – Mihai Stet
United Kingdom
Mihai was born in 1981, in the town of Baia Mare, Romania. In 2005, he graduated from Babeș-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca, with a BA degree in Philosophy. After a few extra years of further studies and work, in 2014, he decided to move to the United Kingdom. Not long after, in 2018, he published his first book, a volume of epic poetry called The Songs of the Wizard (translation from Romanian). A Brunel University’s MA Creative Writing course graduate (year 2021), he persevered in his pursuits, developing his MA dissertation project into a full-blown novel (Erased), while also preparing and writing on other projects. His efforts came to fruition when in 2024 he had his first breakthrough on the Romanian book market with his dystopian novel The Books (translation from Romanian), which was published by one of the most prestigious publishing houses in his Romania, Polirom. As of recently he signed yet another book deal in Romania and is planning several other projects. Mihai writes prose, theatre, and poetry.
Thanks for Meeting Me Here – Jillisa Bronfman
USA
Jill Bronfman was one of 12 Aspiring Novelists Selected for the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2025 and was the Barnes & Noble, National Essay Contest Grand Prize Winner, among other awards. Her poetry chapbook, “Second Cities,” will be published in 2026. Her work has been accepted for publication in five collections and over thirty literary journals. She has performed in The Bay Area Book Festival, Poets in the Parks, The Basement Series, Page Street, Washington Square Annual Livestream, and LitQuake, and had her story about a middle-aged robot produced as a podcast by Ripples in Space. She has been accepted to residencies and conferences including Buinho, La Baldi, Looking Glass, Elk River, Squam, WonderMountain, and LitCamp. She is an upper-tier reader for The Masters Review. She volunteers with 826 Valencia and ScholarMatch helping kids write poetry and teens write their personal essays for college applications. She has an MFA from Pacific University and teaches writing at all levels from graduate to kids. www.jillbronfman.com
The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook – Tessa Barrie
USA
Tessa Barrie was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and has lived in Jersey, Channel Islands, UK, since 1981. Tessa recalls her early life as being fraught with drama. Yet, intermingled with the emotional disruption, she remembers humour squeezing through the frayed feelings, which is why incorporating humour into her writing is so important to her. Both Tessa’s debut novel, Just Say It, and The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook have laugh-out-loud moments despite the bittersweet storylines at their heart. Her third novel, a psychological drama titled The Rebuilding of Freya Michaels, is, by her own admission, “a bit of a diversion” and will be published in 2026. Tessa believes that starting to write novels later in life has made her more driven, as she is finally doing what she loves. To find out more and read Tessa’s Boomer Blog, go to http://www.tessabarrie.com.
A Sweet and Faithful Lullaby… – Amichai Kolberg
Philippines
LGBTQIA+
Adjacent – Asia Ali
United Kingdom
My name is Asia Ali (she/her), and I’m 23 years old. In my personal life, I enjoy art, playing the piano, and of course reading books like there’s no tomorrow! I am also a resident doctor, having graduated from medical school in July, however my true passion is for writing romance, exploring the complexities of love, and I spend most of my time on my WIPs. I debuted as a fanfiction author in 2020 when I started university, and since then have adored creating communities centred around passion, having received thousands of messages detailing how my stories have touched people’s lives. I try to give a realistic but light-hearted lens to underrepresented voices as a queer POC author myself, writing characters people deserve to relate to.
Empty water – Ksenia Smirnova
Russian Federation
I write to transform feelings into shared words. At 34 y.o., I create worlds where I live through every emotion of my characters, becoming one with them. My journey began not with classics, but later: sparked by a classmate and nurtured in fanfiction, where I found my first readers. My voice was ultimately honed by my girlfriend, a sychologist. I write psychological novels about same-sex love. My goal is to normalize these relationships in literature, focusing not on societal struggle but on universal human conflicts. I delve into my characters’ inner battles, conveying them through thoughts, body language, and a sensory atmosphere of sounds, scents, and textures. I want the reader to feel the experiences physically. I am inspired by lyrical music (I create a playlist for each project), the beauty of nature during travels, and my personal love story. I lack a formal literature degree but have screenwriting training, travel experience, and a deep engagement with psychology. I participate in this competition because such themes are forbidden in my country; this is my chance to be heard. Currently, I am finishing the second part of a major novel, planning its translation and search for an international audience. I believe every sincere story deserves a path to the reader’s heart.
Before We Became Men – Osman Njai
USA
Like Ishmael and Rashid from my novel, Before We Became Men, books illuminated my understanding of who I was when nothing made sense. Long before I understood the meaning of the word writer, I was a primary school student who one night discovered three women with unkempt hair and clawlike fingernails staring intently at a huge pot on the cover of a book. I became curious. This was perhaps the first brick that paved the way for my love of storytelling. I would come face-to-face again with Macbeth for my O’Level (final year high school) classes after inheriting that same book from an uncle who introduced me to the pleasures of reading via membership at Freetown’s central library in Sierra Leone. Decades later, I have become an American citizen through the Diversity Visa Lottery, attended Creative Writing classes in Maryland where I live, benefited from online writing workshops and writing groups, came out as a proud gay man of West African descent devoted to writing stories about LGBTQ+ people from a continent actively trying to erase us. I have also written five novels and working on a sixth, all while slowly absorbing the meaning of the word writer.
Swimming in words – Luke Icarus SIMON
Australia
Luke Icarus Simon was born in Nicosia and immigrated to Australia as a teenager. He has a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Literature and Drama from Sydney University and completed postgraduate degrees at the University of Technology and Wollongong University. For 30 years he worked as an actor, screenwriter, playwright and as a principal and CEO in the tertiary and vocational educational sectors. His acclaimed plays include Fish Wednesday (Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, Critics’ Choice- Sydney Morning Herald) and A Little House On An Island In The Aegean (La Mama Theatre, Melbourne, “Simon is a defiant and captivating performer”-Stage Whispers).He created, starred, produced and directed the film My Stamp Collection that was broadcast on ABC-TV. Over the past five decades his short stories, poems, reviews and essays have been published extensively in literary journals, magazines and anthologies in Australia, United States, Greece and Canada. He is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently, Swimming In Words, a short story collection and a novel, The Art In My Palm (Quarter-Finalist in the Publishers Weekly 2025 BookLife Prize). Simon is a Stage 4 cancer survivor. He currently lives in a small New South Wales town along the Murray River. Open your eyes –
Elizabeth Hohenberg
United Kingdom
MEMOIR
The Illogical Adventure : A Memoir of Love and Fate – James MacDuff and Mirriam Mweemba
Canada
James is a Canadian who has called Halifax home for over twenty years since arriving to study law at Dalhousie University. A backpacker at heart who has visited over sixty countries, he works as a regulatory lawyer in the electricity and natural resources sector, where he enjoys dreaming up elaborate new family travel plans in between hearings. Mirriam was born in Livingstone, Zambia and grew up in the small village of Batoka. She earned a degree in Travel and Tourism from Damelin College in Johannesburg, South Africa and has worked as a restaurant hostess for the Kove Collection in Cape Town and on the MSC cruise ship Sinfonia based in Venice, Italy before moving to Canada. James and Mirriam live in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia with their sons, Anderson Arthur and Jack Benjamin. The Illogical Adventure is their first book.
Child of Earth and Starry Heaven – L. Annette Binder
LIFE: Plexus of emotions – Dr Sohail Shali
India
Dr. Sohail Shali is an Intensivist and Critical Care Specialist from Kalaburagi, Karnataka, committed to transforming maternal and critical care in resource-limited settings. With an MBBS from Bangalore Medical College and an MD in Anesthesia & Critical Care from JSS Medical College, Mysuru, he has over five years of experience in ICU leadership and system strengthening. As Head of the Critical Care Unit at Basaveshwar Hospital, he is leading the upgrade of ICU services to Level 1 standards based on UK protocols, and has played a pivotal role in multidisciplinary team training and quality improvement. Previously, as In-Charge of the Obstetric ICU at the Government District Hospital, he spearheaded the district’s Maternal Mortality Reduction Program and helped establish Level 3 maternal ICUs across talukas, contributing significantly to safer motherhood initiatives. Dr. Shali has authored national and international publications in critical and maternal health, serves as Joint Secretary of IMA Kalaburagi, and actively conducts stress-management and youth-wellbeing workshops. He is also the author of Spiritual Journey Reflection and Life: Plexus of Emotions, reflecting his deep engagement with holistic healing and spirituality..
Breakfast Wine -Alex Poppe
USA
Having lived in conflict zones such as Iraq, the West Bank, and Ukraine, Alex Poppe writes about fierce and funny women rebuilding their lives in the wake of violence. She is the author of Breakfast Wine, a yearning, funny, and deeply tender memoir-in-essay about Poppe’s wild ride through Iraq as an educator and humanitarian aid volunteer. Published by Apprentice House Press in June 2025, Breakfast Wine has just been named a finalist for Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association. Alex is also the author of four works of literary fiction: Duende, a 2024 American Legacy Book Awards winner, a 2023 International Book Awards winner, and a 2023 Readers’ Choice Book Awards finalist; Jinwar and Other Stories, a 2024 PenCraft Awards runner-up, a 2023 Readers’ Choice Book Awards winner, and a 2022 International Book Awards finalist; Moxie, and Girl, World, a 35 Over 35 Debut Book Award winner, First Horizon Award finalist, Montaigne Medal finalist, and Eric Hoffer Grand Prize finalist. Most recently, she served as the strategic communications advisor for a democracy and governance initiative at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Alex continues to be awed by place, people, and their stories.
Memoirs of a Woman SURVIVOR from the First Year OF the Holocaust in Gaza – Njoud Ghassan Salem
Palestine
Njoud Ghassan Salem is a freelance researcher and writer dedicated to exploring public health, social issues, and human rights through both scientific inquiry and creative expression. Born on October 2, 1994, in Saudi Arabia, she is a Palestinian woman currently living in Gaza, where she continues her work amid challenging circumstances. Njoud holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Optics and is pursuing her Master’s in Healthcare Management. She has contributed to several research projects and analytical reports that highlight community needs, humanitarian realities, and evidence-based solutions. Her work reflects a strong commitment to documenting lived experiences and amplifying marginalized voices. A multilingual communicator, Njoud’s native language is Arabic; she is fluent in English, has basic proficiency in French, and a good level of German. These skills enable her to engage effectively with international literature and diverse audiences. Writing is her lifelong passion and the bridge through which she connects science, emotion, and storytelling. Whether working on research or crafting narratives, she seeks to illuminate resilience, identity, and the human dimensions of conflict and health. From Gaza, Njoud continues to write and research with unwavering dedication, believing deeply in the power of knowledge and stories to inspire change and preserve truth.
Frickin Short Life – Khawar Salim
Pakistan
Khawar is, at heart, an artist. His professional journey began in Karachi, Pakistan’s advertising capital, where he worked at some of the country’s leading agencies, including Prestige Grey and IAL Saatchi & Saatchi. He left art school to pursue a career, spending twelve years in advertising while continuing to nurture his passion for fine arts—painting, sculpting, and writing essays. These experiences naturally shaped his skills as a content creator. At 32, he left a stable job to establish his own design studio, “Creative Workshop,” driven by his love for freedom and independence. He chose clients the same way he chose work—with the desire to stay true to his creative instincts. This approach allowed him to enjoy both advertising and art for many years. At 53, a stroke limited his mobility, forcing him into a long period of stillness. On his hospital bed, he decided to create something meaningful: the world’s smallest autobiography, a palm-sized book containing 268 key moments from his life, each reduced to just a few sentences. The project revived his creative spirit. Today, he continues to live in his art studio—his home and workplace. Unmarried and rebuilding his abilities, he has begun painting again with his left hand, finding joy in life’s quiet, simple moments.
Amid the Alien corn: A Son’s memoir – Dennis Walder
United Kingdom
Dennis Walder is an emeritus professor of Literature. His father was Swiss, and he was born and brought up in apartheid South Africa by his German mother and English stepfather. He studied at the University of Cape Town before escaping the country; he ended up in Scotland, where he embarked on an academic career and became British.
Dennis completed a doctorate at Edinburgh University while teaching first-year and extra-mural adult students, before being appointed to the Open University. Committed to its democratic ideals, he made the OU his lifelong career, while academic author, broadcaster, reviewer and editor.
Dennis’s publications range from Ted Hughes and Literature in the Modern World to Athol Fugard, Post-Colonial Literatures in English, and Postcolonial Nostalgias. He has published poetry, and more recently short stories in, for example, Fish Anthology (UK), Stand (UK) and Fiction International (USA). ‘The Place’ was runner-up for the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize.
Although retired, his lifelong commitment to writing as a way of understanding oneself and one’s family in the long waves of history has emerged in his most recent book, Amid the Alien Corn: A Son’s Memoir, which focuses on his relationship with his enigmatic mother
The Nutcracker Chronicles: A Fairytale Memoir –Janine Kovac
USA
Janine Kovac writes about power dynamics and women’s bodies. Before turning to writing, she enjoyed a 12-year career as a professional ballet dancer in Iceland, Italy, San Francisco, and in her hometown of El Paso, Texas. She has been published in Salon, Writer’s Digest, Publishers Weekly, and elsewhere. Her memoir, SPINNING: Choreography for Coming Home was a winner of the National Indie Excellence Awards and a semi-finalist for the Publishers Weekly’s BookLife Prize. Her second memoir THE NUTCRACKER CHRONICLES was a finalist for the American Best Book Awards. Janine has been awarded residencies at Hedgebrook, Mesa Refuge, and MacDowell. Her writing awards include the Elizabeth George Foundation Fellowship from Hedgebrook, the Gotham Writers Workshop BIPOC fellowship, the San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Award for Nonfiction and the Calderwood Fellowship for Journalism from MacDowell. She is the recipient of the deGroot Foundation’s “Courage to Write/Writer of Note” grant for her novel-in-progress, PROPOSITION. Her fiction is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas. She lives in Oakland with her family.
FINALISTS FOR U20 DISTINCTION
Karma – Sidney Garrett
My name is Sidney. I have just started senior school. I enjoyed writing short stories at home, horror and thriller genre. I am always thinking what my next story will be as I want to be an author. I got greater depth in my year 6 SAT in English. I live in England with family and dog.
The mystery of Tate Buchen – Omoyeni Hamid
Nigeria
My name is Omoyeni Ibironke Hamid. I am a Nigerian lady who lives in the city of Lagos; one of the most populated places on earth. I come from a family of 7 children, all girls with my parents. I love to write, read, travel and laugh. I have written this story because of my new-found love for writing and hope to do more. I am a passionate person who loves to help others and I hope my work elevates lives and brings a smile to the faces of people. Thank you for this opportunity.
Murder by the page – Faith Bisong
Nigeria
I’m Faith Bisong, and I’ve been chasing stories since I could hold a pen. They have always been my favourite place to wander. Long before I ever called myself a writer, I was a twelve-year-old girl filling notebooks with contents of my own wild imaginations. What began as a simple escape soon grew into something deeper, something that shaped my life. Books raised me as much as the world around me did, and with every chapter I read, I felt a stronger desire to create stories of my own. Over time, writing became more than a hobby. It became a passion that grew with me, a space where my imagination could breathe and where my voice found its strength which has helped me be more expressive since I am unequivocally introverted. Writing, for me, is a patient art. I let each story unfold in its own time because it’s never just about perfect sentences, but about taking the audience on a real ride; one where they can feel the moments and emotions, not just read the words. Being named a finalist is an honour I deeply appreciate. I’m grateful for this recognition and every step that brought me this far.
SELF PUBLISHED
Delphi – Karen Martin
Australia
Karen Martin is an award-winning Australian independent playwright and author. Her adventures in life have involved running away with the circus, creating plays in prisons, and striving to create transformational theatrical experiences. Karen received a Local History Award for the internationally acclaimed production of The Women’s Jail Project. Her debut novel Dancing the Labyrinth, written while living in Crete, won the Eyelands Book Award 2024 (Self-publishing). Her second novel The Bringer of Happiness was inspired from Languedoc folklore. Delphi is the sequel to Dancing the Labyrinth but can also be read as a stand-alone. She recently released a novella: Hypsipyle and the Curse of Lemnos. These books make up the thematic series – Women Unveiled, which blend Greek mythology, history and imagination in the telling of (almost true) stories. Karen’s creative non-fiction include The Little Book of Red Flags and The Little Book of Apologies which take a humorous approach to relationships. Other non-fiction contributions include: The Women’s Circus: Leaping the Wire, and Women in Theatre: Ewa Czajor Memorial Award Recipients.
Sunshine – Tashi Chaturvedi
India
Tashi Chaturvedi is an avid storyteller and delves into the intricacies of relationships and emotions in her fiction. Her works have been shortlisted in international contests and published in anthologies. She generates ideas and develops characters for stories sitting in the cozy corners of the public libraries, away from routine distractions. Armed with an online certification in creative writing authorized by Wesleyan University and offered through Coursera, she has a passion for weaving tales and crafting compelling narratives as it is bred in her bone. Her father was a journalist in reputed English daily and her grandparents were acclaimed academicians. Currently, she works as an editor for a global organization. When not immersed in the world of words, Tashi enjoys travelling, listening to music and stargazing.
The A-Word – Alyssa Murray
USA
Alyssa Murray is a writer and poet hailing from San Diego, California. She holds degrees in English and Psychology from UCLA and her novel, The A-Word, was recently published in January 2025. Her work can be found on her website (freedverse.com) as well as her Instagram (@alyssamurraywrites).
Wonderland – Max Eidelman
USA
Max Eidelman lives in the North Shore of Massachusetts. Wonderland is his first novel, but he has also written articles for a local Boston newspaper and the website Collider, as well as study guides for BookRags. Max is currently working on a second novel and plans to write more. In addition to writing, he also drums in a local band and plays mandolin.
When the Past Awakens – Helena Kidd
Australia
Helena Kidd never set out to be a writer or an author, but when she found her mother Maria’s secret diary something bigger than both of them took over. Helena was compelled to share with others Maria’s suffering and the effects of a patriarchal system. So, Helena published that story.
Her memoirs are heartfelt; they resonate deeply and leave a lasting impact. Helena and Maria’s first book in 2020, When the Past Awakens was shortlisted for the Victorian Community History Awards in the category of Community Diversity. Helena has been recognised worldwide for her contribution to literature as a Cypriot from the Diaspora. Helena was honoured with the CYDIA award in Cyprus in 2024. She continues to study and learn the craft of writing, saying, ‘There is so much more to learn, there is no end.’ When The Past is Left is Helena’s third publication. And coming soon is ‘Cyprus-When the Past is Present.’ Completing a trilHelena Kidd is a second-generation Greek Cypriot born in Australia. Her two adult children are what she is proud of the most. Other passions are travelling, reading, having friends visit, and the outdoors. Hiking long distances or just discovering new walking tracks makes her happy.
Baking Secrets & Otherworldly Mysteries – Daisy Hans-Burrell
USA
A first-generation college graduate and proud self-published author, Daisy holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Health Sciences and Parapsychology, blending curiosity, research, and imagination in her storytelling. By day, she works as a bartender, brewer, barista, and hairstylist — and by night she writes, always creating something new. When she’s not building stories, you’ll find her spinning pottery, gardening, baking homemade sourdough, crafting small-batch chocolate, or curled up with a book and coffee alongside her two beloved dogs (and any friendly stray cats who wander into her life) Daisy writes purely for the love of storytelling — to explore the strange, the beautiful, and the deeply human. Being selected as an international finalist is an incredible honor, a meaningful milestone in her creative journey, and a reminder that stories can travel farther than we imagine.
*by the date of submission
Eyelands Book Awards 