Fictive Dream is a great publication I have followed for a few years now and I am so pleased for my story has been accepted for publication on their website.

You can access the story here.

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The abstract is: The carrying and use of knives by young people represents significant public and political concerns in the United Kingdom and educational interventions have the potential to promote behavioural change in relation to knife crime behaviours. Here, we first describe the creation of a novel virtual reality immersive film –RELOADED– designed to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives. Co-created with secondary-school students, RELOADED explores how one victim’s story can enable stronger emotional connections and better understandings about knife crime in young people. Next, we conducted a preliminary qualitative assessment of engagement with RELOADED among students (n = 16) and teachers and professionals (n = 6) in a school environment, with a view to understanding whether RELOADED can be deployed to improve attitudes towards knife crime in young people. Thematic analysis of interview data identified five inter-connected themes relating to engagement with the environment, the role of the individual, the importance of support networks, the inevitability of knife crime, and the significance of a true story. Our findings underscore the potential of VR and immersive storytelling in fostering understanding among young people concerning complex social issues, such as knife crime.

I enjoyed taking part in this study, and really appreciated the opportunity to have been part of it. Thanks to everyone involved but particularly those young people who spoke with us.

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This is the second time I have been published by Literary Mama, the first was in September 2022 for my story, Back at the Start. Since then, I have joined them as an Audio Editor on their podcast, This Mama is Lit! The editorial board’s enthusiasm and skill has always been impressive and I’ve appreciated the meticulous editing and attention to the detail given to my work.

Charman’s book is an important and comprehensive work for our times, interrogating the relationship between the state and mothers. Here is a link to the publisher’s website for the blurb and more background info on the book.

Thanks again to Literary Mama!

The post A Review of Helen Charman’s Mother State in Literary Mama first appeared on Joanna Garbutt.

Today, a story of mine has just been published in the Orange Blossom Review, a journal for the Creative Arts based in the U.S. I’m thrilled to see my story ‘Toothache’ in their latest edition. You can access it here, as part of Issue 15 of the journal.

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Last week, I heard from Park Publications that one of my stories has been shortlisted in the Scribble Annual Short Story Competition. Though it wasn’t one of the prize winners, it was nice to get close.

I also had a message back from The London Magazine Short Story Prize to say that while I hadn’t been placed, my story had made it to the top 9% of entries, and they encouraged me to submit work in future.

Anyone who submits on a frequent basis will know that there are times when you hear nothing back at all, so I’m really grateful to have been recognised and encouraged by the feedback in these competitions. I’ve been entering competitions and submitting my work for years and any encouragement means a lot.

The post November Update first appeared on Joanna Garbutt.

The Cambridge Prize is organised by TSS Publishing. They run the competition every year and publish the winners and runners up on their website.

The post New story shortlisted in the Cambridge Prize first appeared on Joanna Garbutt.

I’m really pleased to announce that a story of mine, Flotsam and Jetsam, has been selected for publication in the summer issue of The Phare. I’m excited to be featured in such a great magazine. You can read it here.

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The book looks great and I’m so pleased to see this story in print. The link to buy a copy is here.

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The post New publication first appeared on Joanna Garbutt.

LISP 2023 will include stories from entrants to the London Independent Short Story Prize. LISP is an organisation, founded by storytellers for storytellers, committed to building a community of writers of poetry, short fiction and screenplays.

It’s an honour to be chosen and I am really looking forward to seeing my story along with all the other poems, flash fiction and short stories in the anthology shortly.

The announcement regarding the anthology and contributors is here.

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