A NEW generation of writing talent from York St John University have written about hopes, dreams and expectations in a new poetry anthology.

In the latest edition, creative writing students present the very best fiction, non-fiction and poetry from the 'Centre for Writing' initiative.

Dr Sam Reese, lecturer in creative writing, said: "We have all had to endure more resilience than usual over this last year. Beyond the Walls feels at once more appropriate a title than ever (we have all, staff and students alike, been scattered far beyond the university, communicating through our ghostly images on screens) and less—after all, trapped inside for long stretches, it can feel as if we are constantly walking in circles, trapped within (and longing to be, even briefly, beyond) our own walls.

"The poems, stories, and essays in this collection respond to the subject of resilience through the unknown in brilliant and unexpected ways—by way of the Covid-19 Pandemic, yes, but also by way of food rituals, of nightly news cycles, of relationships made abstract and sinister by our separation. But perhaps the greatest way this writing responds to resilience is in its very existence—the appearance, on a blank and solitary page, of somebody else’s words to take us to some place new."

The book is available to purchase as a paperback for £10.99 via The Valley Press. The cover art is by Seline Layla Duzenli.