A Writer's Wonderland [PDF] - University of Portsmouth

included are especially raw and quite shocking to read, for example Honour by James Law, a
gripping story which left me speechless at its finale. Another turn of the page will have you
laughing as with Jenni Ellegard’s, The Housemate, a hilarious performance poem that had lines
and images repeating over in my mind for the rest of the day. Other stories, or tales, completely
engross you within a fairytale world, especially if you have read Eion – The Changeling, a
chilling fairytale by Georgia Standen that depicts every parent’s worst nightmare. This
anthology is filled with suspense as the reader does not know what they will find on the next
page, and they do not know what turn each story, poem or play will take as the pieces have been
so well written and crafted. They are as unexpected. They are full of surprises. They are as
unpredictable as the events in Alice’s rabbit hole.
Each piece of work has been carefully discussed and then selected to be a part of A
Writer’s Wonderland. Each piece is entirely unique to the next, and each has remained
memorable to their readers. We have worked with our writers to maintain both what we, as the
editors require for the anthology, and what they require as a writer. Writers have therefore had
to edit their works for length and context, while we have been careful to uphold their
underlying messages and voices.
It has been a struggle to decide between the works of our writers. A Writer’s
Wonderland was designed in order to display the array of voices and styles, and so we have had
to take care when allocating the number of pages to each individual. Some forms have meant
that more pages have had to be shared than our desired spread numbers, and other stories have
been too well crafted and written that every word is essential, and so cannot be extracted or else
detail of the tale would be lost. I do not feel that any work, no matter how small has been lost
amongst the longer pieces however, as each piece selected was chosen because it has been
imprinted on our memories after the final word was read.
The contents of the anthology have been sectioned for precision. The majority of the
book has been filled by poetry and prose submissions, but we have also included examples of
our plays, which ironically have taken the bulk of our anthology. Our poetry has a variety of
forms as they include poems for both voice and for page. We have examples of work that delve
into the history of poetic form, with our inclusion of the ballad and the long, character driven
epic. Our prose remains primarily with stories, though we also have examples of
autobiographical accounts and microfiction. Finally, our wonderland concludes with our plays
178