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Sarah James/Leavesley

@sarahleavesley.bsky.social

1.2K followers 850 following 53 posts

Prize-winning poet, fiction writer, journalist and photographer. Author of 9 poetry titles, 2 novellas & a poetry-play. More at http://sarah-james.co.uk. Also, editor at V. Press, award-winning poetry & flash fiction. (Profile pic by Gary Carr.)

sarah-james.co.uk.

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Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · Mar 4

Delighted to share this news about my Flaming June inspired poem! Big thanks to the judges & @preraphaelitesociety.bsky.social & congratulations to all the winners. 🎉🎉🎉 My poem continues the Pre-Raphaelite theme of my collection Darling Blue, out with @indigodreamspub.bsky.social later this year.

Pre-Raphaelite Society @preraphaelitesoc.bsky.social · Mar 3

Poetry winners 2024-

First: Sarah James, ‘Let sleeping peaches lie’

Second: Rachel Curzon, ‘Winter in Dinan’

Third: Nicola Warwick, ‘What of the end, Pandora’

Poet-in-Residence commendation: HLR, ‘I take all of my lovers to Highgate Cemetery’

Chair commendation: Nicola Warwick, ‘Briar Rose’

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 12h

“I am too white in this place,
I stick in its throat
like a flag splits the earth.
My pulse, fluttering.”
from Rust Canyon by Lauren Mason @abstract_ions
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/rust-canyo...

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Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 12h

Setting out what's on offer. A small archive of resources already. A free longer piece to come as a sample, probably next week. open.substack.com/pub/moresara...

Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 1d

Big thanks to @inksweatandtears.co.uk for publishing this and for pairing it here with this stunning image!

Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 1d

Today, @sarahleavesley.bsky.social explores the violence perpetuated on women by society, sometimes done in the name of protection. Moving and brutal, the poem highlights how thin the line between thought and reality.

inksweatandtears.co.uk/sarah-james-le…#InkSweatandTearsr#Poetryr#Submissionsns

Title: The art of cutting and stitching

Author: Sarah James/Leavesley

Excerpt: My mother's knife made the first cuts -/she removed my fertile light bullbs,/ then stuffed my womb with shredded tissues.

Description: A striped tropical fish swims with fins extended, in blue water against a speckled background.

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Ink Sweat & Tears @inksweatandtears.co.uk · 1d

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 3d

Lots of news -- including Substack and editor news, and a round-up of this year's V. Press Prize for Poetry, reviews, new releases, events and coming soon...
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@laurabesley.bsky.social
@sarahleavesley.bsky.social

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 4d

“here I am a drop of amber
hung from linked silver

itself a drop of sap […]”
from Rust Canyon by Lauren Mason
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/rust-canyo...
#poetry #books #eco #nature

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 5d

V. v. delighted to see Nikki Robson’s The Price of Happiness reviewed in The Poetry Review. Reviewer Godelieve de Bree picks up on her “attuned sense of the symbolic” and the pamphlet’s “discerning grip on implication”.
poetrysociety.org.uk/publications...
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/the-price-...

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 7d

“Call toward the haloed slit
where in-falling walls almost touch, where sky plays a trick,
tips itself vertical; there is no up or down, just
a whisper, hushing itself”
from Rust Canyon by Lauren Mason
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/rust-canyo...

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Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 7d

One thing we all need but most of us can't get enough of _______

moresarah.substack.com/p/what-and-w...

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Black Nore Review @blacknorereview.bsky.social · 13d

A delicate moment of intimacy in Sarah James/Leavesley's poem today. @sarahleavesley.bsky.social‬

Sarah James/Leavesley – “A scent of pine”

A scent of pine You stroke my hair and the movement of air through my lungs and body becomes one with peace. Not sleep. That may follow, but right now, no need or wish to lose a single moment of this. The weather in your chest is blue skies and sunshine. Rainforest too, lush with leaves, feathers and birdsong. Your arteries…

blacknorereview.wordpress.com

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Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 14d

Questions (and answers!) about Darling Blue, plus other news, reviews, poetryfilm... & trying to make things look pretty!

Darling Blue: ‘Pose’ a question & Other News

This blogpost starts with a quick FAQ for my new poetry collection Darling Blue (Indigo Dreams, Oct 2025), which is now available to pre-order from Indigo Dreams. The questions are based on things people have asked me while I was writing it.

www.sarah-james.co.uk

Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 14d

Questions (and answers!) about Darling Blue, plus other news, reviews, poetryfilm... & trying to make things look pretty!

Darling Blue: ‘Pose’ a question & Other News

www.sarah-james.co.uk

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 17d

Celebrating 10 Years of Publications -- 2023 -- titles, prizes & more!!!
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com

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Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 21d

Shades of blue…infinitely more interesting than those in grey: a Substack about Darling Blue, an animated poem, a question & inspirational prompt!

Shades of Blue

infinitely more interesting than those in grey...

moresarah.substack.com

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 22d

“[...] His poems are burning votive candles to sacred spaces and experiences while wearing the vestments of humanity; the body, attention, parenthood. [...]”
Roy McFarlane on Palmer by R.M. Francis
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/palmer.html/

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 23d

V. Press is v v delighted to share the publication of Palmer by R.M. Francis – a chapbook of poetry that is very wandering and very wondering!
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
#poetry #books #reading

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 24d

Now in stock & available to pre-order – Rust Canyon by Lauren Mason – a poetry chapbook that is very ecological and very unflinching!
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/rust-canyo...
#poetry #writing #art #words #poetrycommunity #life #inspiration #writerscommunity #creativewriting #poets #writers #books

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 25d

“We might not raze like young lovers now
but the pulse, oh lord, the pulse
enthuses.”
From Palmer by R.M. Francis
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/palmer.html

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𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒃 ~ 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 @iambapoet.com · 27d

Autumn again. Trees put on their prettiest frocks, then get more naked day by day. Everything now is poetry – and it comes in waves. Leave the chilly air outside. Light a fire, make hot chocolate. Let senses and soul dive beneath @iambapoet.com's newest wave.

www.iambapoet.com/wave/23

poets | wave 23 | iamb ~ poetry seen and heard

Read 45 poems from 15 emerging and established poets – and hear their authors read them too. Welcome to wave 23 of iamb.

www.iambapoet.com

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Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 27d

Thanks, Jean -- life's been a bit all over the shop lately, tbh, so glad it's not obvious how much is held together with blue tack and crossed fingers. x

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Sarah James/Leavesley @sarahleavesley.bsky.social · 28d

A hectic but lovely week – new Substack ‘reedlike: whispering through wind & water’ at https://moresarah.substack.com/ & pre-orders open at https://indigodreamspublishing.com/sarah-james for my new collection Darling Blue!!! DM or email me for reviews, readings, book swaps etc.

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · 29d

“I started to pray the day that grey cankered
ultrasound came back still and quiet.”
From Palmer by R.M. Francis
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/palmer.html

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V. Press @vpresslit.bsky.social · Sep 12

“deep in man,
the love of thin places. To touch
its stones is prayer, is momentary
[…]”
From Palmer by R.M. Francis
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com/p/palmer.html

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sophiakramerart @sophiakramerart.bsky.social · Sep 10

Remember, no matter your situation or age, you have the chance to create the life you want. Make a list of where you want to be. Break each down into steps of how to get there. Complete one step at a time. Set a time of completion. Remember that time can adjust. You have to just keep going! ❤️

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Jodi @jcfineartphoto.bsky.social · Sep 10

#Photography #SmallTownPhotography #MeanderingInSmallTowns

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