‘Merry it is while summer lasts’ by Natalie Nera

Miri it is while sumer i-last
With foulës song;
Oc now neghëth windës blast
And weder strong.
Ei, ei, what this night is long,
And Ich with wel michel wrong
Sorwe and murne and fast.

Medieval Poem on the cycle of the Seasons… we think.

Hello there,

What a year it has been! 

We have had a marvellous summer. This year’s Big Book – a prose anthology celebrating the short form – is in the works, after a fantastic submission period. We were blown away by the micro, flash, and short stories that poured in, and can’t wait to reveal our cover art and title in the coming weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on our book launch – we’d love to see you there!

I must confess I still struggle with the backlog of submissions caused by an insane workload during lockdown, coupled with a year of teaching my kids at home – like millions of other parents around the world. As a result of overexertion for a prolonged period of time, some of my chronic health issues flared up again, not aiding my efforts to catch up on the neverending To-Do list. As I am writing this editorial, I am beginning to tackle many of my Fragmented Voices duties now, approximately six weeks after I thought I would have done it. If you are awaiting a response to your prose submission, you’ll be receiving one soon. I’m sorry it’s so delayed!

So, what can you expect this season? 

Our online magazine will continue to publish twice weekly, bringing you the very best prose, poetry, themed translations (we have Peruvian poetry for you this autumn – facilitated by Professor Emilio Paz) and the occasional editorial. We will no longer be featuring visual artists, as we found that it wasn’t a popular submission. 

Besides this year’s Big Book, an edition of ‘The Language of Salt’ is planned for Europe – post-Brexit bureaucracy permitting!

We are looking into Virtual Coffee Mornings, where writers and readers can come together to enjoy language – wherever they are in the world. We also hope to offer a summer internship next year. Let us know what you think. Would you be interested?

We love what we do. We dream of an international community of writers without borders. Let us see where the untrodden path is taking us – and take the odd detour into Middle English, just for fun!

With warmest wishes,

Nera