Our most recent theme, 🦋 TRANSFORMATION 🦋, has now entered our theme archive. Read all the wonderful pieces submitted to this theme in one easily accessible location 🧡 apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/19/t...

'winter arrives too soon a smoky, spectral form shrouded in fog and damp carried on the breath of boreas' Closing our 🦋TRANSFORMATION🦋 theme, Jennifer R Edwards’ hauntingly beautiful poem, 'Palingenesis', explores self-transformation. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/13/p...

'The cartographer came to court and lay Siberia at the Tsar’s feet. The emperor wanted the map to speak, to tell him how his wealth might grow...' Catherine Glavina’s captivating poem, 'Burning Bright', draws upon the history of Siberia. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/13/b...

'Don’t ever ask me why I chose to run. All I wanted was to plant my roots someplace new.' Eve Chancellor’s poignant poems, 'Daphne' and 'Girl, Gorgon, Goddess', consider transformation in Greek mythology. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/10/d...

'Oh, loyal Argos, watcher of the skies— protector of chaste wife to faithless Zeus...' Filled with longing, Paris Rosemont’s (@msparisrose.bsky.social) beautiful poem, 'The Watchman', draws upon the transformation of Argos in Greek mythology. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/10/t...

'Grace has never written a funeral speech; in fact, she has never been to a funeral before.' In Katherine Smythe’s moving short story, 'Something Other Than Fear,' a woman grapples with grief and life-changing circumstances. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/08/s...

'The young woman pulled the cape around her shoulders, the hood obscuring her face as she checked to make sure that she wasn’t being followed.' Esther Kearney’s magical short story, 'The Lavender Shroud', draws upon the history of the lavender flower. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/08/t...

'I have started to feel my edges compressing. My soul beginning to ooze from the seams.' Lizzie Elliot-Klein’s beautiful poem, 'Crustacean', explores self-transformation. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/06/c...

‘Take it Eve,’ urged her sister, ‘before it’s too late. Choose to carry on, please, for both of us.’ Filled with rich imagery, Jane Broughton’s (Janeb.bsky.social) flash fiction, 'Flux', explores a moment of change in the wake of a climate crisis. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/06/f...

'Dear B————, As I walked along the highway this late afternoon, I saw a dead fox in the distance.' In C. S. Daugherty’s haunting short story, 'Troubled Skin', a shapeshifter writes to a lost loved one. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/03/t...

'Beyond the town, its gold-lit streets, beyond the forest, beyond that last wind-stripped tree, the silver river cuts its way to the sea.' In Jennifer Lindsay Gray’s flash fiction, 'Kelpie', two children are transformed by a mythical encounter. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/03/k...

'After I felt the spirit pass I moved outdoors to feel the sun Already I wanted more' In her beautiful poem, 'Already', D. B. Asher contemplates the afterlife. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/01/a...

‘There’s a full moon and the garden drips. The dead draw near and I’m in the kitchen, thick in the alchemy of cookery.' Ali McGuire’s mesmerising flash fiction, 'Cooking a Dark Roux on an October Night', explores the transformative nature of cooking. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/10/01/c...

'I didn’t know pelvic floor exercises were a thing for men, but here I am pinching and holding and counting my youth.' Ewen Glass' (ewenglass.bsky.social) moving poem, 'A Fine Whine', meditates on ageing. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/29/a...

'Every Wednesday I’d arrive home from school to a stack of newspapers outside my front door and a five-pound note in an envelope in my letterbox.' In Neil O’Dwyer’s short story, 'The Black Hand Boys', a newspaper boy gives in to peer pressure. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/29/t...

'Water flows downwards, it seeks the lowest point before it stands in flood or in shallows, settles, awake with life and breath.' Eoin Flannery's (eoin.flannery.bsky.social) beautiful poem, 'Falling Water', explores a moment of transformation in nature. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/26/f...

'Crib death more common than I would have thought. But still, not enough to clear the hum in my brain' Erich von Hungen's touching poems, 'Losing My Only Child' and 'Going Through Hell', consider how we move through and process grief. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/26/l...

'I love you & I will always love you more than I could love any other man' Nicole Yurcaba's haunting poem, 'No One Has Calculated the Half-Life of Grief', explores how grief can leave us struggling to change. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/24/n...

'I am the shaman for the ghosts of my brethren the souls who cannot cross over, who linger to watch over lovers they had passed off as sisters.' Cat Brogan's beautiful poem, 'Cross', explores self-transformation, love and freedom. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/24/c...

'What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?' Ian Johnson's (youcanandyouwill.bsky.social) short story, 'One Another's Forever', follows a transformative affair. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/22/o...

‘Communicants at breakfast, lunch or dinner shed the vestments and impediments of banana leaves, polythene bags or tin cans...' Eziefula Adonai's beautiful poem, 'An Ode to Okpa, Nsukka and Uncle Ade', pays homage to a transformative meal. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/22/a...

'A woman dulled by endless sunsets, too many days spilled from the same cup, she boards with a sigh, not wonder.' Filled with rich imagery, Amit Parmessur’s poems, 'Murder on Bus 39' and 'Brave', consider the transformative nature of everyday interactions. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/19/m...

'Sunbeams bounce off the bonnets of the parked Ladas which flank the deserted Czech streets. She doesn’t know how to deal with her first Prague summer.' Catherine Whitehead’s short story, 'Lessons', follows a protagonist finding their feet in a new city. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/19/l...

'We sit comfortably in the dark My shaking leg gently rocks you The suck on your bottle soothes you Nestled on my lap' Daithí Kearney's playful poem, 'A Little Night Music', considers the relationship between parent and child. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/17/a...

'They took him from his mother while his father was at war, split him from his brothers and sisters like pages torn from a book.' Fiona Murphy's vital poem, 'The Way the River Remembers', honours a member of Australia's Stolen Generations. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/17/t...

'A blackbird sings in the half-light. The first cars of the morning rush by in the distance. The small end-of-terrace house is quiet.' Maria Beville’s short story, 'Two Months', follows a mother navigating the changes within her son. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/15/t...

'Entonox pumps through the hose into my lungs. I inhale so deeply I feel pressure from my organs, fighting against my ribcage for more space.' Kelley Dundas’ short story, 'Afterbirth', reckons with the transformative nature of early motherhood. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/15/a...

'you sit opposite me on a bench in a central london wagamama and talk of childhood nostalgia...' Elisabeth Flett's visceral poem, 'grime and grit', considers how childhood experiences shape us. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/12/g...

'I embarked, headphones in ears, backpack slung over one shoulder, phone in my tracksuit pocket...' Filled with reminiscences, Joseph Blythe's (@wooperark) poems, 'Pilgrimage' and 'Bed', consider how we transform over time. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/12/p...

'‘Looks a lot shorter, but it’ll soon grow back if you don’t like it.’ Patricia is sitting in the chair, watching herself in the mirror...' In 'Pins and Needles', Holly Hartford’s protagonist grapples with the need for change. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/10/p...

'The girl had grown up watching Nani water plants in her balcony...' Shanai Tanwar’s beautiful short story, 'Flora', considers transformation across familial generations. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/10/f...

Last week, the 100th post featuring creative writing from our submitters was published! Thank you very much to everyone who has contributed so far, and for making Apricot Press what it is today 🧡 #apricotpress #apricotpresslit #literarymagazine #literaryjournal

'At five years old my grandmother taught me to spit a cherry stone, how to tug the stem between your teeth and bite to the pip.' Filled with rich imagery, Emma White’s beautiful poem, 'Cherry Stones', meditates on familial relationships and aging. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/08/c...

'I woke not in my room, but in a trickling can—a slurry of gum spit [...] and ceremonial red-tape confetti.' Erwin Arroyo Pérez’s poems, 'Gregor Returns' and 'Grocery Store, 11:03pm', consider ‘Transformation’ in its literal and emotional forms. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/08/g...

'Yellow tinged light through torn clouds Green leaves wilting to brown...' Beverley Ann Abrahams’ atmospheric poem, 'Changeling', captures a transformative summer day. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/05/c...

'A path of water lilies dance to the surface in spring, ice giving way to the lily pads...' Ashley Marie Johnson’s beautiful poems, 'A Yearly Reminder at a Forgotten Pond' and 'Girlhood: a Collection of Tankas', consider transformation within nature and ourselves. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/05/a...

'Yesterday my childhood shrank to the size of a diamond and exploded into a vagabonding linearound my neck...' Dragana Lazici's wry poem, 'Anti-aging Face Cream', challenges the beauty industry. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/03/a...

'With the lights off, and the fabric of my pajamas dripping from my body, I carve myself a pocket of peace.' In her thought-provoking poems, 'Bedroom Disco' and 'A Woman Made Mannequin', Cypher explores self-expression, gender, and performance. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/03/b...

'All her life she dreamt of drowning. These were not nightmares.' Anne Mac Darby-Beck explores how our connection to nature transforms us in her dreamy flash fiction piece, 'Not Drowning'. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/01/n...

'You are drowning, you think. You just wanted to touch all the ladders in the pool.' Exquisite Armantè beautifully blurs magic and reality in her flash fiction piece, 'Myrtle Beach, 2005'. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/09/01/m...

‘There are days now when I am swimming not sinking when I think, Yes! I have finally understood how all of this messy mum-life is supposed to work.’ Danielle Marie Cahill’s (@daniellec.bsky.social) tender poem considers the relationship between mother and child. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/08/29/t...

'In darkness wrapped, I count the days by heartbeats, not by light. My body melts to liquid thought, imaginal cells ignite.' Drawing upon the natural world, McLord Selasi's beautiful poem, 'Chrysalis Dreams', details a transformative new beginning. apricotpress.co.uk/2025/08/29/c...

Looking forward to featuring in @apricotpress.bsky.social and reading other contributor's work!

🍊 ANNOUNCING OUR ‘TRANSFORMATION’ CONTRIBUTORS 🍊 Hello! I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes preparing pieces for publication under the current theme, 🦋 TRANSFORMATION 🦋, and I’m delighted to be bringing you wonderful new work once again, starting this coming Friday.

🍊 CHECK YOUR INBOX 🍊 Hello! Replies to all recent submissions have now been sent out. If you submitted a piece to our current theme, 🦋 TRANSFORMATION 🦋, please make sure that you check your inbox. (1/2)

Submissions have now closed for our current theme, 🦋 TRANSFORMATION 🦋 Thank you to everyone who has submitted work, please allow up to six weeks for a response.

You have one week left to submit to our current theme 🦋 TRANSFORMATION 🦋 Deadline: midnight, 4 May 2025 Read all about the theme and our submission guidelines on our website, linked in the bio!

You have two weeks left to submit to our current theme 🦋 TRANSFORMATION 🦋 Deadline: midnight, 4 May 2025 Read all about the theme and our submission guidelines on our website, linked in the bio!

Hello! Here’s a little postcard from me to you 💌 I love this time of year when all the insects are starting to appear in the sunshine, so here’s a little ladybird I found the other day in the garden 🐞 (1/3)

With three weeks to go on our current theme, 🦋 TRANSFORMATION 🦋, we’re curious to know, how do you feel the process of writing transforms you? Let us know in the comments below 👇🏻 #writersky #booksky