January 2023

Issue 2

Read Issue 2 here. If you would like to purchase this issue in print (and support our magazine!), visit the shop on our Honeyguide page here or become a monthly supporter!

Our Wonderful Contributors

Janet McCraw Janet’s work combines both art and crafts, driven by color. These collages were created with the contributions and inspiration from several young visitors to her studio, ages 6-8, who abandoned their delightful sketches, with not an inkling of how fantastic they are — and how much she tries to capture that wonderful child’s vision in her adult work. The children are now older and moving on but their art remained behind. A little glue, some paint…Her collaborators: for “Tee-Hee”, Judah L. For “Girl in a Garden”, Makaidyn and Kinley G., Kingston and Judah L.

Florence L., age 10 I love to write and draw and I love to be creative. I read all the time and have hundreds of books. My favourite thing is to be outdoors in nature, usually up a tree!

Alex Price Alex Price is a Primary Teacher and father of two, living in St Helens, England. He has a degree in creative writing from LJMU and writes poetry and short stories inspired by the world around him. When he isn’t writing, he can be found rock climbing or being climbed on by his children. Twitter – @alexpricewriter

Matias Travieso-Diaz Matias Travieso-Diaz was born in Cuba and migrated to the United States as a young man. He became an engineer and lawyer and practiced for nearly fifty years. He retired and turned his attention to creative writing. His stories have been published or accepted for publication in well over forty paying short story anthologies, magazines, audio books and podcasts, most recently the Grantville Gazette, After Dinner Conversation, Red Room Press (YEAR’S BEST HARDCORE HORROR VOL. 6), and The Quiet Reader. A collection of some of his stories has also been accepted for publication.

Kate Leimer Kate Leimer (she/her) enjoys stories of all kinds and her writing has been published by TL;DR Press, Idle Ink, Cabinet of Heed, and Cranked Anvil. When not writing, she works in a library. She lives in the Cotswolds with her partner and a rescue dog called Merlin. https://Twitter.com/hollypook

Catherine G. Tripp Catherine G. Tripp writes for the curious, shining a light on the humor and courage in the unloved corners. Her work has been published by Memoirist.org, Reedsy.com, Sad Girls Literary Club, the Haight Ashbury Literary Magazine as well as winning a Writer’s Digest essay award. She lives in Hawaii where she is writing a historical novel set in the 1850s, about Mary Ellen Pleasant, a determined abolitionist entrepreneur.

Sarah Dollar Sarah has written stories for as long as she can remember. She has a passion for poetry and short stories, often structured as picture books. She has even tried her hand at writing cryptic clues for crosswords for a London based art project! She lives in SW England with her partner and their three young children.

Anne Gordon Perry Anne Gordon Perry writes and sometimes publishes essays, fiction, poetry, biography, and children’s books. Among other works, Anne has published “Magnificent Moles of Mede Meadow,” “Who Makes Knees for Bees?” and “Unseen Witness: Sarah Farmer & the Portsmouth Peace Treaty.” She lives in Duncanville, Texas her husband and five cats, following the death of their three dogs.

Rhiannon Oliver Rhiannon Oliver is an actress, poet and workshop leader. As an actress she has worked at Shakespeare’s Globe, National Theatre, The National Theatre of Wales and on BBC and SKY TV. Her poetry for children has featured in The Dirigible Balloon, Northern Gravy, Paperbound, Little Thoughts Press, Buzgaga and Launchpad. She has received comissions to write poetry for television (Nadolig Only Boys Aloud, S4C) and the Big Welsh Rhyme Time 2023 (Book Trust Cymru). Rhiannon is a Welsh learner and lives in Cardiff with her family. Twitter @rhicatjam Instagram: rhiannonoliverwords

Jonathon Sellars Jonathan Sellars lives in London with his three small children. He is obsessed with writing poems and one days hopes to call himself a poet. He is on a lifelong quest to find words that rhyme with Jonathan. Please help him (@JonathanSellarsLiesHere on Instagram).

Stephanie Henson Stephanie lives with her family in Southeastern, Pennsylvania, but is originally from Central, New Jersey, where she has a degree in Communications and a Publishing and Professional Writing Certificate from Rider University. Her background is in Advertising/Marketing and most of her writing experience is through those professional roles. Writing and storytelling has been her passion for a long time. She has been published in print and online through various publications and has had several children’s poems published by The Dirigible Balloon, Buzgaga Online, Parkakeet Magazine, and Paperbound Magazine. She also has a Children’s Poetry book released in affiliation with Experiments in Fiction, an independent publisher in the UK, which reached Number One New Release in Children’s Poetry on Amazon (ebook). Her latest project is an anthology of SEL-based short stories scheduled to release in 2023 through Buzgaga Books. Stephanie enjoys reading, theatre, mindless web searching, Netflix binges, sunflowers, sports, and anything related to coffee!

Lesley James Lesley is a teacher and writer. Recent poems for children can be found in The Dirigible Balloon and Chasing Clouds anthology. Her chapbook for grown-ups, A Walk with Scissors, is published by Infinity Books UK. She believes that few things are more stimulating or exciting than the flora and fauna we can see from our own doorsteps.

Sydney Moses Sydney Moses is a sophomore at Beloit College in WI. She is working towards a double major in anthropology and creative writing. Her dream is to be an English teacher so she can inspire others to love reading and writing as much as she does. She loves all animals, but the aardvark is her favorite and she is constantly inspired by them. She and her friends even run a creative writing club at school called The Aardvark Authors.

Lynn White Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She was shortlisted in the Theatre Cloud ‘War Poetry for Today’ competition and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and a Rhysling Award. Find Lynn at: https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

Grace Gibbons Grace Gibbons teaches College Writing at the Culinary Institute of America. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Mississippi University for Women. She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and the love of her life, her Beagle-Daschundt Sophie.

Joseph L. Joseph is 5 and a half. He has been fearful of dogs for a while, but our friends’ new greyhound has been a balm – they have a very special relationship.

Sue Lancaster Sue Lancaster is a children’s writer living in South West London. She has poems featured in The Caterpillar, The Dirigible Balloon, Little Thoughts Press, PaperBound Magazine and Tyger Tyger.

Tabitha L. Tabitha is 9-and-three-quarters. She lives in South West London with her mum, dad, sister Polly and pet budgie, Buddy. Her hobbies are reading, drawing and gymnastics, and her favourite subject at school is art. Tabitha is very proud to have a poem published in the pets edition of The Toy magazine.

Linda Middleton Linda writes poetry for children and is passionate about inspiring them to write their own in her workshops. She is delighted that some of her poems have found beautiful homes, including The Caterpillar, The Dirigible Balloon and Little Thoughts Press. Linda enjoys supporting children and teaching RE in a primary school in a leafy corner of England. In her spare time when she is not writing, she can be found wood wandering, wildlife watching, beach strolling and ice cream tasting.

Louise Wilford Louise Wilford lives and works in Yorkshire, UK. She has had many stories and poems published, most recently in Bandit, POTB, Makarelle and English Review. In 2020, she won the Arts Quarterly Short Story Prize and the Merefest Poetry Prize, and was awarded a Distinction for her Masters in Creative Writing. She is working on a fantasy novel.

Andy Nuttall Andy lives in the NorthEast of England in the UK where he works in social care. He’s toying with retirement but not from writing. His poetry for children has boarded the ‘Dirigible Balloon’ and had a fierce encounter with ‘TygerTyger Magazine’. The sound platform ‘Iamb-poetry seen and heard’ has showcased his work for grownups curated by the poet Mark Antony Owen. He twitters @arnutt7

Mark Bird Mark Bird is a children’s poet and teacher. His debut picture book, “Halloween Date From Hell” came out in October 2022 to rave reviews. Mark has featured in The Caterpillar, Gill Education’s ‘Over The Moon’ series, Paperbound Magazine and in Brian Moses’ “The Best Ever Book of Funny Poems” anthology. Many more of Mark’s poems can be found on his website and blog: Inspirational Poems For Kids & Young People | Dreambeast Poems by Mark Bird

Catherine Olver Catherine Olver is a writer and researcher with a PhD in children’s literature from the University of Cambridge. She’s especially interested in how literature can help children feel part of the natural world and blur divisions between human, animal, plant and landscape categories so that we can intuitively understand our similar pleasures and needs. Her poems for younger readers have appeared in The Caterpillar, PaperBound and the Little Thoughts Press Autumnatopoeia issue, among others.

Sarah Ziman Sarah Ziman was born and brought up in South Wales and currently lives in Hertfordshire with her husband, two sons and daft cat. She enjoys boring her children in antique shops, laughing at her own jokes, playing loud music, nature and visiting new places. She is the winner of the YorkMix Poems for Children competition, and you can find her poems in anthologies, online, and in magazines for children around the world.

Shaun Jex Shaun Jex is a writer living in the Oklahoma City area with his wife and two children. His poetry has appeared in publications such as The Dirigible Balloon, Light Poetry Magazine, The Caterpillar, and Parakeet, among others.

Asger M., age 8

Julie Stevens Julie Stevens writes poems for both adults and children. They sometimes reflect the impact MS has on her life. Her children’s poems have been published in Buzgaga, The Toy, Tyger Tyger Magazine, The Dirigible Balloon, Better Than Starbucks, Brian Moses’ blog, The Poetry Realm and The Reading Realm and in anthologies. www.jumpingjulespoetry.com

Lori D’Angelo Lori D’Angelo’s work has appeared in various literary journals including Drunken Boat, Gargoyle, Hawaii Pacific Review, Heavy Feather Review, Juked, Literary Mama, the Potomac Review, Reed Magazine and Word Riot. She is a fellow at Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences, a grant recipient from the Elizabeth George Foundation, and an alumna of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley. She lives in Virginia with her dogs, cats, kids, and husband.