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Philippa Bowe

@philippabowe.bsky.social

1K followers 740 following 800 posts

Flash fiction, poetry, translation, in English/en français. Published online and in print (Ghost City Press, NFFR, Reflex Fiction, Bath Flash Fiction, Spark2Flame, Neither Fish Nor Foul, The Hooghley Review). Pushcart Prize nom. Dance, LFC, la belle vie.

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 1d

Love them - and what a great source of inspiration, cocking a snoot literature! 😆💫

Ben Niespodziany 📚🎪 @neonpajamas.bsky.social · 1d

I once read a fairytale pedagogy advising against writing about wolves & candles, because they were cliché & overdone. I then proceeded to write a long sequence about a wolf full of candles.

Here are 3 from that sequence, thanks to @havehadhavehad 🐺🕯️

www.havehashad.com/hadposts/can...

HAD @havehashad.com · 1d

amazing new triptych from Benjamin Niespodziany today!!

The wolf full of old candles is melting in the parking lot. Parked at the waxing wolf, the melting wolf sees a permanent time of fire. Last night was the weather. Tonight's still unsure."

https://www.havehashad.com/jytay

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 1d

A day late with my #LiftToTheSky - some Mondays are impossible days! Just reading these beauties from poet Regina Avendaño, spare and surreal and so rich. 💫
@thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk

www.onlypoems.net/poets/regina...

Poetry of Regina Avendaño — ONLY POEMS

New poems from Regina Avendaño

www.onlypoems.net

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 1d

Just saw your messageon Scrib - big congrats Angie, so pleased for you! 🎉😘

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 3d

thanks Rachel! 🙏

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 3d

Got my piece in to the @bathflashaward.bsky.social with a whole two hours to spare!! 😆✨

pink circle with red writing saying BFFA and a green outer circle with white writing saying Bath Flash Fiction Oct 2025 Last Minute Club

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 3d

Love your angel cake art and what it symbolises! 😁🥰

kawalker.bsky.social @kawalker.bsky.social · 25d

Cake for breakie! Thanks for accepting my art.

Neither fish nor foul 📖 @neitherfishnorfoul.com · 25d

Dig in! Issue Five: Cake is up. Enjoy!

www.neitherfishnorfoul.com/issues/issue...

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks Rachel - and that's a great summary! 🙏

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Love it! Lived near Brussels when I was little and the mannequin did make us laugh...💫

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Such a strong sense of horror and powerlessness, so much beautiful language - think my favourite line is 'ribs click shut'. 💫

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Karen I love the sound of it so so much - and am bummed I can't make the launch tonight. I'm sure it'll be wonderful Fingers crossed that I'm free for the next event!! 💜

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

What a stunner! Love how you train the spotlight on the violence directed at women with these details, so brutal. 💫

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

So powerful and skillful Merril - love how you only hit us with the generals at the end. 💫

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Wow, congratulations Merril, that's wonderful!! 🎉

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

So hard to read, so important to write. 🙏

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

I'm very lucky to still have both my parents so haven't had that experience. But how wonderful that your relationship with him means he is still sorely missed!

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Oh I just love this John, it feels wonderfully breathless, we race through it, savouring all those concrete details building a picture of something far from concrete and sort of sinister, there's so much here! 💫

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

A beautiful tribute, what I find most striking about it is how it feels drenched in love! 💫

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Up at five - bloody hell, that's true dedication!! 🙌

a man is typing on a keyboard with the word dedication written on it

Alt: a man is typing on a keyboard with the word dedication written on it

media.tenor.com

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Nina I'm so sorry that's your experience. This woman isn't meant to be me or anyone specific, more like an embodiment of women made to feel physically inadequate by the beauty diktats weighing us down. I guess the happy home is pointing to the hollowness of the obsession with physical perfection.

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks Merril! The narrator isn't me, mind you - more of an every woman I think... 🙏

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Life in all its messines, yes! Thanks John. 🙏

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks Debra! 🙏

Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks Alan - yes, there's always the need for reminders that humanity is messy and sweaty and that's okay! 😆🙏

Reposted by Philippa Bowe

The Broken Spine @thebrokenspine.co.uk · 5d

Tomorrow! #NotJustPretty is not for show.
It’s for change.
Join the revolution in poetry.
🗓 Oct 4 | 8pm GMT
🎤 Open mic + showcase
thebrokenspine.co.uk...
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
#PoemsAbout

#NotJustPretty: A Manifesto for Women Who Refuse to Be Flattened - The Broken Spine

Their Breasts Aren’t Perky Enough

thebrokenspine.co.uk

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Philippa Bowe @philippabowe.bsky.social · 5d

Last minute piece for #PoemsAbout and the #Mannequin prompt - will read and comment on others tomorrow! Big thanks to @thebrokenspine.co.uk and @alanparrywriter.co.uk

Poem on a purple and orange background:

The mannequin

in the shop window spoke to me this morning as I walked past, help me! she said so I stopped and looked into her eyes that aren’t eyes and thought, without eyes can we have a soul? And asked her, how? but she said nothing, perfect head tilted, perfect body streamlined, long elegant fingers reaching for two baby mannequins, a perfect family in a perfectly accessorised world, and I felt the fat on my arms tug, body hair wild to escape, belly roll reaching heartily for trouser waistband, sweat rolling faster and faster in glee from my armpits, I shifted on my feet and my mind bounced away and home, my messy crowded full of snarling teens and dirty dishes home, my human heart-filled home stained with love and laughter, and I was washed in sadness for her and before I turned away I think I saw a tear glint on the mannequin’s flawless cheek.

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