Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Apricot Press

@apricotpress.bsky.social

69 followers 30 following 66 posts

Your words. Your passion. Your press. Small, online press publishing poetry, flash fiction, short stories and essays. linktr.ee/ApricotPress

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 20h

'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...

Something Other Than Fear

In Katherine Smythe’s moving short story, a woman grapples with grief and life-changing circumstances.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 21h

'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...

The Lavender Shroud

Esther Kearney’s magical short story draws upon the history of the lavender flower.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 2d

'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...

Lizzie Elliot-Klein’s beautiful poem explores self-transformation.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 2d

‘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...

Filled with rich imagery, Jane Broughton’s flash fiction explores a moment of change in the wake of a climate crisis.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 5d

'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...

In C. S. Daugherty’s haunting short story, a shapeshifter writes to a lost loved one.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 5d

'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...

In Jennifer Lindsay Gray’s flash fiction, two children are transformed by a mythical encounter.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 7d

'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...

In this beautiful poem, D. B. Asher contemplates the afterlife.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 7d

‘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...

Cooking a Dark Roux on an October Night

Ali McGuire’s mesmerising flash fiction welcomes Autumn and explores the transformative nature of cooking.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 9d

'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...

Ewen Glass’ moving poem meditates on ageing.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 9d

'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...

The Black Hand Boys

In Neil O’Dwyer’s short story, a newspaper boy gives in to peer pressure.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 12d

'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...

Eoin Flannery’s beautiful poem explores a moment of transformation in nature.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 12d

Very honoured to have been able to publish this wonderful poem 🧡

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 12d

'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...

‘Losing My Only Child’ and ‘Going Through Hell’

Erich von Hungen’s touching poems consider how we move through and process grief.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 14d

'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...

No One Has Calculated the Half-Life of Grief

Nicole Yurcaba’s haunting poem explores how grief can leave us struggling to change.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 14d

'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...

Cat Brogan’s beautiful poem explores self-transformation, love and freedom.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 16d

'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...

One Another’s Forever

Ian Johnson’s short story follows a transformative affair.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 16d

‘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...

An Ode to Okpa, Nsukka and Uncle Ade

Eziefula Adonai’s beautiful poem pays homage to a transformative meal.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 19d

'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...

‘Murder on Bus 39’ and ‘Brave’

Filled with rich imagery, Amit Parmessur’s poems consider the transformative nature of everyday interactions.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 19d

'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...

Catherine Whitehead’s short story follows a protagonist finding their feet in Prague.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 21d

'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...

A Little Night Music

Daithí Kearney’s playful poem considers the relationship between parent and child.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 21d

'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...

The Way the River Remembers

Fiona Murphy’s vital poem honours a member of Australia’s Stolen Generations.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 23d

'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...

Maria Beville’s short story follows a mother navigating the changes within her son.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 23d

'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...

Kelley Dundas’ short story reckons with the transformative nature of early motherhood.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 26d

'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...

Elisabeth Flett’s visceral poem considers how childhood experiences shape us.

apricotpress.co.uk

Apricot Press @apricotpress.bsky.social · 26d

'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...

‘Pilgrimage’ and ‘Bed’

Filled with reminiscences, Joseph Blythe’s poems consider how we transform over time.

apricotpress.co.uk